{"id":698,"date":"2016-11-05T08:34:54","date_gmt":"2016-11-05T12:34:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordontennis.com\/?p=698"},"modified":"2017-05-03T23:25:13","modified_gmt":"2017-05-04T03:25:13","slug":"real-elite-not-wta-elite-trophy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2016\/11\/05\/real-elite-not-wta-elite-trophy\/","title":{"rendered":"Why The Real Elite Are Not At The WTA Elite Trophy"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I read this week that Johanna Konta<\/strong> was still competing in China<\/strong>, I assumed that, having forgotten to put my clocks back last weekend (to readjust them to British Standard Time), I had somehow slipped back several weeks in time. That was when Konta was competing in the China Open <\/strong>in Beijing<\/strong> and the Hong Kong Open<\/strong> in a desperate attempt to try and qualify for the WTA Finals<\/strong> in Singapore<\/strong>.\u00a0 Instead, when I cleared my head from the fog of time, I realised that she was actually in Zhuhai<\/strong> competing in the WTA Elite Trophy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The WTA Elite trophy may be the most misleadingly titled tennis tournament there is. Indeed, it may be the most misleadingly titled sporting event full-stop. That is because it does not feature \u201cthe WTA Elite\u201d at all. They were all in Singapore last week, including Svetlana Kuznetsova<\/strong>, who narrowly pipped Konta to the final qualifying place. Instead, the WTA Elite Trophy features the next<\/em> best women players in the world, the leading 12 players who did not qualify for the WTA Finals. They are organised into four groups of three, with the winner of each group reaching the semi-finals this weekend.<\/p>\n

Konta made a great start to the tournament by defeating Sam Stosur<\/strong>, a former US Open<\/strong> winner, in straight sets. The victory proved that she is entirely deserving of the title of\u00a02016 WTA Most Improved Player of The Year<\/strong>, which she won last month. Beating the Australian Stosur may even have evoked memories of Konta\u2019s breakthrough tournament at the beginning of the\u00a0year, when she reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open<\/strong> before losing to the eventual winner, Angelique Kerber<\/strong> (for whom it was an even bigger breakthrough tournament, as it gave her a first Major title).<\/p>\n

Konta consolidated on her performance in Melbourne<\/strong> throughout 2016, including winning her first WTA title at Stanford<\/strong> in June<\/strong>, beating the great and f\u00eated Venus Williams<\/strong> in three sets in the final. By the end of the year, she was the first British woman (albeit one who was born in Australia<\/strong> to Hungarian parents) to win a place in the world\u2019s top 10 since Jo Durie<\/strong> more than thirty years ago. That was a fitting tribute to Konta\u2019s tireless pursuit of self-improvement this year. The only thing that would have capped the year off in even more spectacular style was a place at the WTA Finals.<\/p>\n

Why the real elite are not at the WTA Elite Trophy<\/h2>\n

It would be fascinating to know what Konta and the other women from the world\u2019s top 20 who are competing in Zhuhai really think of the tournament. There can certainly be no doubt that they would much rather have been in Singapore last week, with the real elite, than in Zhuhai this week, with the \u201cnot quite elite\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n