WTA Championships Istanbul Preview

The top 8 WTA players commence their group stage matches for the year end championships tomorrow, and it should prove an interesting end to the year, even if it is lacking in heavyweights such as Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters. It does contain three new slam winners in Sam Stosur (US Open), Petra Kvitova (Wimbledon) and Li Na (French Open) but out of the three only Kvitova has looked in good enough form to possibly take the title, who won her first title since Wimbledon by winning Linz. Disappointingly none of them have built on their grand slam overtures by dominating the field and exploiting the power vacuum that is the absence of Serena Williams, and particularly in the case of Na she has even retrograded from her grand slam winning form, bombing out of her home tournament in Beijing before the semi finals. Of the 8 women, perhaps the one who has looked most impressive is Victoria Azarenka, who recently won Luxembourg without dropping a set, and there is also the tricky, in-form Agnieszka Radwanska, who won back to back titles in Tokyo and Beijing. The groups are as follows:

Red Group:                                                             White Group:

Caroline Wozniacki (1)                                            Maria Sharapova (2)

Petra Kvitova (3)                                                       Victoria Azarenka (4)

Vera Zvonareva (6)                                                   Li Na (5)

Agnieszka Radwanska (8)                                      Samantha Stosur (7)

The Red Group is probably more difficult to call than the White Group. Wozniacki has continued to look unconvincing as the world no.1 and is susceptible to tall big hitters like Petra Kvitova, and I don't see her having an easy match. Radwanska would probably match up best for her as she is not as aggressive as Zvonareva or Kvitova, but what Wozniacki has shown is that you she can lose to players not even in the top 10 this year. Provided Kvitova's game is not error strewn, I put her above Wozniacki as the most likely to make it out of the group stage. 

In the White Group Sharapova's name jumps out immediately simply because even at her worst she is terrifically difficult to put away, although her serve has let her down all year and remains a serious liability. Stosur has disappointed lately, probably as the result of a post US Open lull, but if she finds her A game she has the weapons to beat anyone in the group and I give her a chance to make the semis, if not to win the tournament. Li Na has looked the most vulnerable in the past few months and it is difficult to see her making it out of the group. Azarenka on the other hand should be able to succeed fairly comfortably past the round robin.

Predictions:

Red Group Semi Finalists: Kvitova, Wozniacki

White Group: Azarenka, Sam Stosur

Final: Azarenka def. Kvitova

Samantha Stosur: The New US Open Women's Champion

Sam Stosur def. Serena Williams 6-2, 63

Australia's Sam Stosur is this year's ladies' singles US Open champion, and she produced one of her greatest ever performances to do it, beating no less than 14 time slam winner Serena Williams. Stosur, in only her second major final, crushed the nerves that stifled her in the French Open final last year, and similarly crushed Williams in two straight, convincing sets. From the off Stosur declared her intent by attacking Williams relentlessly with her powerful inside out forehand and hitting huge, high kicking first serves which frequently surprised and jammed the strong American up. She did not succumb to the strong start-rapid collapse narrative either as she broke Williams to secure the first set, and kept up the pressure at the start of the second. Her untroubled confidence was threatened in the opening game when Serena engaged in a heated spat with the umpire after she had yelled out before a point was over, and the point (and the game subsequently) was awarded to Stosur. The American crowd, predictably wound up in a storm over the ruling, could have got to her. But in great testament to her unflinching mental determination, she remained as cool as she had done in the first set, and despite being broken immediately after, managed to break Williams to go 5-3 up. She closed the match out, nervelessly, and with a perfect sense of appropriateness by hitting a powerful inside out forehand that sailed past Williams for a winner, and sealed her name as a new Grand Slam champion. There have been 3 new champions this year, but of the three only Stosur has a home Grand Slam in the Australian Open, next January - expect her to be a major contender, and to give Australian tennis the inspiration it has been searching for in the past few years.