Well thats it for the WTA Championships as it has drawn to a close, and in this post I will look at the semi final matches and the final, so let's have a look...
In the first semi final it was between Serena Williams and Agnieszka Radwanska, and it promised to be quite an intruiging one. However unfortunately for Radwanska, who had spent the longest time on court by far out of the top four players (over 8 hours) looked pretty wiped out and exhausted throughout the match, and she could do very little against Serena's firepower, who blasted her way through the first set in 6-2. And in the second, Aga had a very little left in the tank and ended up being broken twice again to let Serena take a comfortable place in the final with a 6-2, 6-1 score. This was a big disappointment for Aga who was obviously so exhausted by the time reached this one, as it was simply a match too far for her, but regardless of that, Aga has done extremely well this year, finishing the World No.4, and getting as high as the world no.2 at one point, her future is looking very bright indeed for next year.
The next semi final was between Sharapova and Azarenka, which turned to be more competitive, however it was surprisingly Sharapova that played the better tennis, as Azarenka looked tired and fatigued just like Radcwanska did. And after a tight first set, with Sharapova winning 6-4, in the 2nd Azarenka sustained a wrist injury, and despite her pain she carried on fighting, but in the end Sharapova took advantage and powered her way to victory and sealed her place in the final with a 6-4, 6-2 win. It was a real surprise this result as I really was expecting Vika to win this one, however fatigue had really set in for the Belarusian, and it wasn't to be on this occassion. Regardless of the loss, Vika will finish the year as the World No.1, which is very impressive, and she has actually only really after winning the Australian Open this year, been two weeks without being No.1! So well done to Victoria for such a great year where she has won her first grand slam in Melboune, reached the final of the US Open and won the bronze singles medal, as well as the gold mixed doubles medal at the Olympics.
So onto the final between Serena and Maria Sharapova, and it promised to be an entertaining encounter, and while I didnt see it, it was of course really only going to be one player that would emerge victorious. And Serena in the first broke Maria's serve, and went on to close it out, and in the 2nd set she secured an early break, and at 5-3 (with Maria serving to make it 5-4), Serena seized the initative and blasted a winner off Sharapova's second serve to close out the championship to end a remarkable season for the American, with a 6-4, 6-3 win to end her 2012.
The result it has to be said here was hardly surprising as Serena came into the match with a 10-2 winning record against Sharapova, and in the end Maria could do little against the Serena serve, which it has to be said is one of the most if not the most consistent serves in the ladies game. And it also sees Serena make an emphatic return to the sport, and even though she showed great promise last year, this year we have seen the real Serena emerge back on the scene. And she has also completed her golden career slam this year also by winning the Olympic gold medal, in both singles and doubles, and by doing that she has finally got it all. Its also staggering and indeed frightening to think that this year alone she has only lost four matches out of the 63 matches she has played in 2012, and that is some statistic, even by Djokovic's amazing standard last year, this is quite something. And it also sends out a strong message to the rest of the ladies locker room that Serena is truly back and I'm sure the rest of them will have their work cut out in trying to topple her off that perch, because no doubt she will become the World No.1 next year again, so its only a matter of time before she does.
So that's it for the WTA 2012 season, which has seen some truly remarkable tennis throughout, all that remains is the WTA International Qatar Airways Tournament of Champions event, which will take place in Sofia. This event will feature top 8 players on the WTA tour who have won International level events on the tour this season, which will include Caroline Wozniacki, Maria Kirilenko, Nadia Petrova and Daniella Huntachova, so that will be a good event I'm sure. And later on I might just post up some of my thoughts on the best matches of the year from the 2012 WTA tour sometime soon. So until then that's it for now.
Bye the now!
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