Well its time for an update on the ladies tennis tour as it has now come to an end (well actually not quite as the Sofia tournament of champions is still to be played this week and there are one or two other smaller tournaments as well still to wrap up). But the main showpiece of the WTA tour is now over which is what I mean as the WTA Championships from Istanbul took place last week where the world's top eight players went at it to try and lift the trophy that label them queen of the WTA tour (or the year end championships). So let's have a look at some the matches...
Starting with the first day we had Serena Williams, the defending champion take on Angelique Kerber and for Serena it was nothing more than a quick workout as she ruthlessly disatched Kerber in straight sets 6-3, 6-1 to quickly stamp her authority on the proceedings. Also on the first day we had Victoria Azarenka face Sara Errani in a hard fought match with the first set going on for nearly an hour and a half which finally saw Vika battle past the plucky Italian. And in the 2nd set, Errani suffered a calf injury, which hampered her chances and she went down a double break as Vika sealed the match in 7-6, 6-2. And in the last match of the day there Agnieszka Radwanska who faced the former champion, Petra Kvitova, and Petra showed her champion qualities as she easily dispatched Aga in straight sets with a 6-4, 6-4 win.
On Day 2 we had Li Na face against Sara Errani in what turned out to be a real topsy turvey match which saw momentum swing one way then the other. However in the end it was Li Na who closed it out in a tough straight set win of 6-3, 7-6. Jelena Jankovic, who has made a great return to form this year continued to show her fine form as she outclassed an ailing Victoria Azarenka who appeared to be struggling badly on serve, but Jankovic managed to close down the Belarusian with a 6-4, 6-3 victory. And the last match of the day turned out to be the most entertaining as Serena took on Radwanska in a cat and mouse game, which saw Serena struggle on serve and let Radwanska take her to duece on several games, and the sly Pole managed to even get a break of serve off the World No.1 as well as produce some wonderful shots. But in the end Serena's might was just too strong and she went to break Aga to win the match with a comfortable 6-2, 6-4 victory. While it wasn't the result Radwanska wasn't hoping for it did at least let her show the crowds once again what a delightful player she is to watch and her guile and ingenuity remain a breath of fresh air in the ladies game, which makes for a good depature from all the baseline bludgeoning you get these days.
Getting on day 3, Li Na took on Jelena Jankovic in the first match of the tournament that went the distance as the two players battled it out, but in the end it was Li Na that made the crucial move and broke in the 3rd set to win the match in 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. In contrast to that however Kerber had no trouble in getting past a jaded Radwanska, who in her final match struggled to get anything going and the German made short work of her, which saw Angie win in 6-2, 6-2. This was a disappointing end for Radwanska and I personally thought she was handed a raw deal with the schedule as she had to play three days in a row and she really suffered as a result, and it was also a great pity to see her lose without even taking a set, but hopefully she will have a better 2014. Serena Williams in the last match of the day made short work of Petra Kvitova as she put in an unbelievable serving performanec and hit the Czeck player off the court to win 6-2, 6-3.
Moving onto Day 4, Li Na was up against Victoria Azarenka in what could have been a really competitve match, however it turned out to be the opposite as Vika struggled badly with a back injury throughout. But rather than retire Vika struggled on into the 2nd set where Li Na whitewashed her and took the match with a 6-2, 6-1 emphatic win. So this was another disappointing end to the season for another player in Azarenka as she had gotten off to a strong start early on this season winning in Melbourne for the 2nd time, but after losing out in the US Open final just there, Vika certainly has lost some of her fire, but here's hoping she will get it back next year. Petra Kvitova went on and had a real humdinger of a match against Angelique Kerber which went to three sets but it was Petra managed battle past the German in the end winning in 6-7, 6-2, 6-3. And in the last match of the day Sara Errani managed to nab the consolation prize as she defeated Jelena Jankovic in straight sets 6-4, 6-4, however after this it was Jankovic who went through to the semi finals, and Errani and Azarenka both went home.
On day 5, the semi finals started with Li Na taking on Petra Kvitova for a place in the final and as they are both big hitters it promised to be quite a contest. However in the end it was Li Na that was the better player as she went on to close it out and take her place in the final with a straight set 6-4, 6-2 win that see Li reach her first ever WTA Tour Championships final. Now onto the second semi final of the day, which was between Serena Williams and Jelena Jankovic, which turned out to be the most bizzare match of the tournament, as Serena looked badly out of sorts for half the match as her movement was sluggish as anything and she went a break down early on in the first set, and she was even at one point sobbing into her towel. However Serena soon turned it around as she broke back and went on to nab the 1st set with a break of her own. In the 2nd set however Serena started to wobble badly again and she looked fatigued and barely able to move around the court she had to resort to hitting big winners from the back of the court to stay in the points. However Jelena managed to grab the initiative and a double break to level the match at a set all. In the 3rd set things got weird and we were treated to an at times thrilling set with quite a few twists and turns but Serena eventually closed it out after much difficulty to reach another final in Istanbul with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 win.
So this set up the final between Serena Williams and Li Na, which again saw Serena get off to a puzzling slow start as she moved sluggishly around the court and Li Na got the perfect opportunity to win her first ever set against Serena since 2007! So with a set up, in the 2nd Li Na looked to be the favourite if she could keep her momentum going, however it was soon cut short as Serena weaved her web and broke Li to grab the 2nd set and level the match. And in the 3rd set it was all Serena as Li Na struggled badly on her serve and served some very costly double faults and before we knew it, Serena was 5-0 up. But Serena didn't have it all her way in trying to serve it out as Li made a last ditch effort to break back and pushed Serena to deuce a few times before the American finally nailed it and she sanks to her knees in delight as she won her fourth WTA Tour Championships title with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory.
Well once again Serena Williams is the year end championships WTA champion and it caps the perfect end to yet another near perfect year for her as she has won nearly 13 million dollars in prize money and 11 titles, among with are two grand slams at the French and the US Open. And in another scary statistic Serena has only lost four matches all year (two of those were to Azarenka) and she has won 78 out of 82, which is something in itself! And from here it is difficult to see how she can get any better as she is light years ahead of the rest of the field and the rest of the players on the tour are going to have mighty tough time trying to get anywhere near her. But in the meantime all the credit has to go to Serena for her incredible talent and showing that she really is one of the all time great players to have played the game and I'm sure there will be more to come.
And that's it for now and the for WTA tour for this year, which will start back again in January and its been a great season with plenty of drama, great matches, upsets and good stuff all round. And in the meantime the men's ATP season is almost close to an end as well as there are only two more weeks left and this week there is the Paris Masters and the next week will be the ATP world tour finals from the O2 in London, so I can't wait to see that. This week will also be crucial for Roger Federer as he lost to Del Potro in the final of the Swiss Indoors in Basel just there on Sunday, so in order to qualify for the o2 next week he will have to win his first match this week in Paris, which will be against either Mikhail Youzhny or Kevin Anderson, so he will have his work cut out, but hopefully he will win as the World Finals will never be the same without him.
Anyway that's it for now, more will follow on the ATP world tour finals next week and also the Paris Masters final as it comes up.
Until then bye for now!
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