* Bouchard out of Singapore as Serena roars back to life to keep finals hopes alive
* Sharapova falls again, this time to Kvitova
* Wozniacki leads group after win over Radwanska
Singapore
Singles – Round Robin: (3) Petra Kvitova def. (2) Maria Sharapova 6-3 6-2
One race ends, another begins. Maria Sharapova can surely forget about the year-end #1. The question now is, can she manage to hold off Petra Kvitova and Simona Halep in the contest for #2?
Maybe Sharapova was still tired after her opening match, but this wasn’t really competitive. It took only an hour and fifteen minutes, and Sharapova won a feeble 40% of the points. Except for winning the first two games, she was never really in it. And so she finds herself 0-2 — not yet mathematically eliminated, but with almost no chance for the final; the only way it can happen is if she beats Agnieszka Radwanska in her third round, and Kvitova loses to Caroline Wozniacki, and Sharapova manages to win the tiebreak between herself, Wozniacki, and Radwanska, all of whom would be 1-2.
Kvitova, who lost her opener to Wozniacki, is for the moment still at #3, and of course needs a lot more than this to return to #2. But she is back in contention for the semifinal — if she can beat Wozniacki in the final match of the group, she looks good for the semi, and even if she loses, there might be that tiebreak….
Singles – Round Robin: (8) Caroline Wozniacki def. (6) Agnieszka Radwanska 7-5 6-3
If Maria Sharapova appeared tired after her first match marathon, Caroline Wozniacki didn’t show any signs of trouble at all. In fact, she is now up to 2-0. For the moment, that still leaves her at #8 in the rankings, but her chances of making the final are now very good indeed. She’ll make it unless she loses her third match (against Petra Kvitova), and Agnieszka Radwanska beats Maria Sharapova (which admittedly looks possible), in which case Wozniacki, Kvitova, and Radwanska are all 2-1 and it comes down to tiebreaks. As for Radwanska, she is 1-1, so her match with Sharapova is obviously very big for her.
Round Robin – Red Group: (1) Serena Williams def. (5) Eugenie Bouchard 6-1 6-1
Clearly Eugenie Bouchard’s problems were worse than those of Serena Williams. Bouchard ends up 0-3 here, having looked bad in all three matches, and that means that she will fall to no better than #6 in the rankings — and it might be lower. As for Serena, her win plus Sharapova’s loss effectively settles the contest for #1 — the only way Sharapova can take #1 is to win her remaining round robin match, hope she makes the semifinal, and win the title, while Serena wins no more matches. Not likely.
That being said, Serena still hasn’t clinched her semifinal spot — although this blowout win definitely helps. Serena is now 2-1, and done with Round Robin play. There is one more Red Group match, between Simona Halep and Ana Ivanovic. If Halep wins that, then she wins the group and Serena is #2 and they both make the semifinal. If Ivanovic wins, then Halep and Serena and Ivanovic are all 2-1 and it comes down to tiebreaks. Right now, Halep is 4-0 in sets, Serena 4-2, Ivanovic 2-2. So if Halep wins even one set, she would be 5-2, Serena 4-2, Ivanovic 4-3, and it would again be Halep and Serena in the semifinal. If Halep loses in straight sets, then everyone is 4-2 and it comes down to games. We won’t get into that; let’s just say that Halep is clinched and things look pretty good for Serena.
Doubles – Quarterfinal: (3) Black/Mirza def. Kops-Jones/Spears 6-3 2-6 12-10
Black/Mirza had multiple match points in the match tiebreak, two of them on serve, before letting Kops-Jones/Spears level things at 10-10. Fortunately, they got things together after that. This appears to mean no year-end Top Ten spots for Kops-Jones and Spears. With Peng Shuai in the semifinal, there no longer appears to be a possibility of Cara Black ending the year at #8, either, but she is likely to be #4, and Sania Mirza has a shot at #5.
Rankings
Estimated WTA Rankings As of October 23, 2014
Rank &
Prior
Rank …Name …………. Points
1..(1) SWILLIAMS ……… 7675*
2..(2) SHARAPOVA ……… 6890*
3..(3) KVITOVA ……….. 5966*
4..(4) HALEP …………. 5932*
5..(6) ARADWANSKA ………4810*
6..(5) BOUCHARD ………..4715
7..(7) IVANOVIC ………..4660*
8..(8) WOZNIACKI ……… 4465*
9..(9) Li ……………..3970
10.(10) Kerber ………….3480
11.(11) Makarova ………..2970
12.(12) Cibulkova ……… 2908
13.(13) Errani ………….2775
14.(14) Jankovic ………..2675
15.(15) Pennetta ………..2642
16.(16) Safarova ………..2615
17.(17) Petkovic ………..2495
18.(18) Suarez Navarro …..2370
19.(19) VWilliams ……… 2270
20.(20) Cornet ………….2200
21.(21) Stosur ………….2005
22.(22) Peng ……………2005
23.(23) Muguruza ………..1923
24.(24) Pliskova ………..1830
25.(25) Pavlyuchenkova …..1820
26.(26) Zahlavova Strycova .1750
27.(27) Lisicki ……….. 1735
28.(28) Kuznetsova ………1730
29.(29) Dellacqua ……… 1665
30.(30) Svitolina ……… 1655
Draws
Singapore Championships — Week of October 19, 2014
RED GROUP
……………..SWILL…HALEP…BOUCH…IVANO….W/L….SETS
(4)Halep………Halep…%%%%%…HALEP…XXXXX….2/0…..4/0
(1)S.Williams….%%%%%…HALEP…SWILL…SWILL….2/1…..4/2
(7)Ivanovic……SWILL…XXXXX…IVANO…%%%%%….1/1…..2/2
(5)Bouchard……SWILL…HALEP…%%%%%…IVANO….0/3…..0/6
WHITE GROUP
……………..SHARA…KVITO…RADWA…WOZNI….W/L….SETS
(8)Wozniacki…..WOZNI…XXXXX…WOZNI…%%%%%….2/0…..4/1
(6)A.Radwanska…XXXXX…RADWA…%%%%%…WOZNI….1/1…..2/2
(3)Kvitova…….KVITO…%%%%%…RADWA…XXXXX….1/1…..2/2
(2)Sharapova…..%%%%%…KVITO…XXXXX…XXXXX….0/2…..1/4
THURSDAY
Singapore
Round Robin – White Group
(3) Petra Kvitova def. (2) Maria Sharapova 6-3 6-2
(8) Caroline Wozniacki def. (6) Agnieszka Radwanska 7-5 6-3
Round Robin – Red Group
(1) Serena Williams def. (5) Eugenie Bouchard 6-1 6-1
Doubles – Quarterfinal
(3) Black/Mirza def. Kops-Jones/Spears 6-3 2-6 12-10
CONTENT VIA Bob LARSON TENNIS NEWS
Topics: Agnieszka Radwanska, Caroline Wozniacki, Eugenie Bouchard, Maria Sharapova, Petra Kvitova, Serena Williams, Simona Halep, Singapore, Tennis, Tennis Results, Wta
@WTA LADIES #TENNIS RESULTS FROM #SINGAPORE, @serenawilliams DOES THE SINGAPORE SLING & SOARS BACK, @MariaSharapova.. http://t.co/mPIyMr5uew