With the WTA’s most prestigious event on tour starting October 25th, Lucie Safarova completed the line-up in Singapore, joining, top seed Simona Halep, Maria Sharapova, Petra Kvitova, Garbine Muguruza, Agnieszka Radwanska, Angelique Kerber and surprise USA open Champion Flavia Pennetta to fight for the right to be crowned WTA Tour finals Champion.
The elite 8 players in Singapore might breathe a sigh of relief at the news of 5-time former WTA finals Champion Serena Williams withdrawal from the competition. However the field will be far from easy, with 3 grand-slam winners in the mix, it makes for perhaps the most wide-open and exciting WTA tour finals event for some time.
One player who will be looking to get back to her best after a quiet few months will be 5-time Grand-Slam winner, Sharapova, who was side-lined for the majority of the summer calendar with a leg injury. The Russian won the title back in 2004 and has been a runner-up at the championships on 3 occasions, however with her poor form in recent weeks it would be somewhat of a stretch to imagine the world #3 could go all the way.
With Sharapova entering the event with a lack of match fitness it could perhaps be a chance for three of the tours biggest success stories of 2015 to notch a big win. Both Safarova and Mauguruza reached grand-slam finals this year, eventually falling to Serena Williams, but with the American out of action perhaps it could be the chance for one of them to shine, in the final event of the season.
The third and perhaps biggest success story of 2015 is Pennetta’s heroic win over Serena Williams in the US Open final, ending her chances of winning the calendar grand-slam. Within minutes of Pennetta winning her maiden grand-slam the Italian announced her retirement from the game, perhaps one last title would be a fitting end for the Italian on what has been the best year of her career.
Despite having slightly quieter seasons than previous years, there will still be stiff competition from Halep, who is now favourite without Serena competing. Joining Halep as someone not to be underestimated is Kvitova, who won the event back in 2011. world #6 Radwanska and world #7 Kerber complete the field, and have both proven they will not be beaten easily.
The 8 players have been split into their two groups, with the red group consisting of world #2 and top seed at the tournament, Simona Halep, she’ll be joined by perhaps one of the most famous female athletes on the planet, Sharapova, as well as former Wimbledon runner-up Radwanska and reigning US Open Champion Pennetta.
On the other side of the draw is the white group, which features recent China Open Champion Muguruza, two-time Wimbledon winner Kvitova, 2015 French-Open runner-up Safarova and feisty leftie Kerber.
With such a competitive field, it looks a though the 2015 WTA Finals could be one of the most exciting years to date, and with play kicking off on Sunday all the players will be out the grab the last title of 2015 in Singapore; let the games begin!
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