Just when you thought the WTA tennis season ended with last week’s climatic WTA Tour Finals in Singapore, there is this week’s WTA Elite Trophy tournament in Zhuhai, China.
The event features the top 11 players who did not qualify for the WTA Finals plus a wild card entrant. The 12 players in a round robin event, split into four groups of three. Over the first four days of competition, each player meets the other two players in her group, with the winner in each group advancing to the semifinal. The winners of each semifinal meet in the championship match.
The event marks an anticlimactic end to the WTA Tour season, although starting next year, it will thankfully be held the week before the WTA Finals.
Garbine Muguruza is the headliner at the event and will look to close out an otherwise disappointing season with a win in the final event of the year. With a French and Wimbledon title under her belt, Muguruza’s expectations are to be competing for the world No. 1 ranking and in the elite eight-player WTA Tour Finals. Based on her past triumphs on the highest levels of the sport, her persistent fight and competitiveness and that fact that she is a former world No. 1 player, the Spaniard should be considered the WTA odds favorite to take the crown at this unique event. Muguruza barely slid into the semifinals saving match points against Anastasija Sevastova in her final round-robin match.
Also in the semifinals are Australian Ash Barty,Julia Georges of Germany and Madison Keys of the United States. Goerges is the defending champion at the event. An interesting stat about Goerges is the she has hit 478 aces this season on the WTA Tour, the most of any player on tour. Barty, a celebrated Australian star who once quit pro tennis to play professional cricket, was a semifinalist at this event last year. Entering Zhuhai, she ranked No. 1 on the WTA Tour this year for percentage of service points won (tied with Goerges on 63.3%) and is second behind Goerges for service games won (78.3%).
Keys had a relatively successful season at the Grand Slams, reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and the semifinals of the French and U.S. Opens. A season-ending win would be quite motivating for the up-and-coming American to kick off the 2019, where she will be poised to break-through and win her first major title.
