The WTA Championships - 2012

If you were a nerd back in school, or even if you weren’t, you would remember fondly or rather not so fondly (depending on whether you were a nerd or not), the highly competitive race for being the class topper in the final exams. Your report card was more sacrosanct than the holy scriptures and the ghosts of your past non-performance in the quarterly exam would come to haunt you! Okay, maybe I am exaggerating, but all this is merely an effort to draw your attention to the year end WTA championships, which simply put is a tussle between the top eight players on the women’s tour to win the year end championship. It may or may not decide who is going to end the year as No.1. It also doesn’t mean that the person who wins this tournament is the best player. It is a little more elite than other top rung tournaments because only the top eight qualify to play and sometimes the race to get an entry into it is far more exciting than the tournament itself.

This year the championships are being held in Istanbul, Turkey. The top eight who have qualified, are divided into two groups of four each with the top two from each group qualifying for the semis. More often than not, the round robin stages of the tournament throw up some delightful matches because it is not really a knockout format like the Grand Slams and hence even if you have had one bad day, you can still bounce back with a good result.

One glance at the red group and the general consensus would be for Serena and Azarenka to make it through. Serena played really well in her first two matches, although the first set against Li Na was pretty even. The match though that has the most amount of excitement around it is Azarenka-Williams. They have played each other 11 times with Serena winning 10 of them, the most recent wins being at the US Open and Olympics. Clearly the odds are stacked in Serena’s favor and notwithstanding the recent spike in Azarenka’s form vis-a-vis wins in Linz and Beijing, I still think Serena can clinch this in two if she does not beat herself up too much. Be sure to keep some earplugs handy when you watch this match!

The white group was a lot more open initially, but now with Kvitova’s withdrawal and Stosur’s entry, Sharapova and Radwanska once again seem to be the most likely to make it through. Sharapova won a marathon against Radwanska the other night. I personally like Radwanska’s style of play the most among the top four. She makes up for the lack of overpowering ground strokes in her artillery with intelligent shot making. But, unfortunately it is that very firepower that she can’t seem to cope with when up against the likes of Sharapova. Also, her second serve is weak and an easy put away for many top players.

Coming to the others in the draw, Errani is a very strong player. She had some very good results in the Grand Slams this season and has also won four titles. Her Achilles’ heel is evidence that she is not a very aggressive player. She likes to take her time and against the top players – one cannot afford to do that. This was very evident in her 3-6, 2-6 loss to Sharapova. Li Na is a fighter. No one can deny the tenacity in the petite Chinese who shot to worldwide fame after her French Open victory in 2011. Things have gone a little downhill for her from then, but, you can always trust her to take the fight to her opponents. Angelique Kerber and her outstanding number of matches won this year reminds me a lot of Caroline Wozniacki. She has not done particularly well in the major tournaments and against the big names, but plays consistently well round the year – something which has rewarded her with a place in this year’s championships. She has lost all the three matches in her round robin but, one should definitely expect better things from her next season.

If the early stages of the tournament are anything to go by, then we are in for a treat as the tournament progresses. My money is on Serena though. Although she will not end the year ranked No.1, she is way too explosive and dominating when it matters the most. Also, her comeback this year was nothing short of extraordinary!

Who are you wagering on?