WTA Championships Day 3: Williams-Kvitova battle headlines a loaded day

What’s a high-profile event without a touch of spice? Upsets undoubtedly inject new interest and enthusiasm into an event. Jelena Jankovic who never fails to light up an atmosphere put up a spirited display against the higher ranked Victoria Azarenka to secure her first win over a top 4 player in last 18 tries and her achievement has definitely thrown open the White Group. The next few matches from that group will now be followed with lot more eagerness.

Jankovic now squares up against Li Na which makes a mouthwatering affair on a day which is loaded with two other matches which can be extremely competitive. A much anticipated clash between the only two WTA Championships winners in this year’s field – Serena Williams and Petra Kvitova is the banner match of the day along with another potentially exciting encounter between Agnieszka Radwanska and Angelique Kerber. Let’s have a look at these three contests.

(4)Li Na v (7)Jelena Jankovic (Head-to-head: Li leads 5-4)

There can’t be a more entertaining contest to start off the day. Both Li Na and and Jelena Jankovic know each other pretty well having won a doubles title together. Naturally their face-offs turn out to be packed with loads of drama and quality tennis. Li holds an edge but very slightly.

What makes matters even more interesting is the fact that they have split their meetings this year. The Serbian former World No. 1 who is enjoying a remarkable resurgence came into the clay season on a high having won a title at Bogota and having stretched Serena to the distance in the Charleston final. She had the upper hand in Rome over her Chinese opponent but Jankovic did lose some of the steam after that and in their most recent encounter, Li bludgeoned her in less than an hour.

But the Serb’s tennis has started to shine again post US Open. She came into her 5th Championships on some momentum and turned it on a slumping Victoria Azarenka. Azarenka who confessed to being mentally burned out, couldn’t find an answer to the Serb’s stinging angular backhands and simply couldn’t find a solution to deal with Jankovic’s awe-inspiring defense, silky movement, strong serve and delicate touches.

Li Na on the other hand, did have her moments of nervousness in her straight sets victory over Sara Errani. She looked quite jittery in a match which showed her brilliance as well as her vulnerability. The 2011 French Open champion has to avert being under pressure and until and unless her forehands start rolling, she might find it difficult against a Jankovic who’s riding high on confidence.

Prediction: Jankovic wins in three sets.