WOMEN’S TENNIS ASSOCIATION YEAR END TENNIS FINALS – JUST WHO IS IN THE WTA LINE-UP? GLOBAL CHICK GETS ON THE CASE!

Written by: Global Chick on 19th October 2015

WOMEN'S TENNIS ASSOCIATION YEAR END TENNIS FINALS - JUST WHO IS IN THE WTA LINE-UP? GLOBAL CHICK GETS ON THE CASE!

epa04838946 Maria Sharapova of Russia returns to Serena Williams of the US in their semi final match during the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 09 July 2015. EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO COMMERCIAL SALES |

Just who IS in the WTA Line-up? Global Chick gets on the case!

Did you hear the one about the player who thought she was in the WTA Finals, then was out, then was maybe in but now could be out? No, dear readers, do bear with me – Global Chick isn’t giving you the run-down of how to tell who is who in that great British game of cricket… oh no. That would be easy!

Let us present exhibit A – a consistent player who has finished the in Top Ten for the last three years, and had her first Top Five season in 2012. Angelique Kerber looked set to be Singapore bound if she won the Prudential Hong Kong Open… but… she didn’t. Of all the times to run into a resurgent Jelena Jankovic (who by the way is an outside chance for the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai), it was last weekend.

Then the Tianjin champ Agnieszka Radwanska cited her elaborately wrapped and strapped shoulder injury as her reason for pulling out of the Kremlin Cup (Kup?) in Moscow. So the shuffle of seeds around made things even more complicated for the hard-grafting German.

Why is this so complicated? Here’s our view!

First up… surely the WTA Finals should be the “elite” competition, and yet it is the back markers (if you can call the rest of the Top 20 from 9 downwards that) who will be contesting the WTA Elite finals while the… well elite will be contesting the Billie Jean King trophy in Singapore.

Ok so that’s a small thing. We find ourselves with a pretty unprecedented scenario. The winner of three of this year’s Slams is of course Serena Williams – who called time on her season to heal after falling to Roberta Vinci in the US Open. Of course the champion, Flavia Pennetta is still in the running for the last three spots in Moscow but for Kerber now having also withdrawn from Moscow, her fate lies in the fortune of others.

If WTA Rising Star Karolina Pliskova and Carla Suarez Navarro lose their openers in Moscow, Kerber will be Singapore bound. Let’s not even get started on the fingers and toes we need to work out the alternates.

For example – with the tournament having a Sunday start, where does it leave Zhuhai front runner and probably WTA Finals alternate Timea Bacsinszky who might find herself in Singapore and then expected to play the week after for the B-title.

Are we being a bit harsh? Well, for a while now the WTA has been without a worldwide title sponsor. Why is this even an issue? Well let’s take a peep at the World’s highest paid female athletes. The top three alone are tennis players (Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Caroline Wozniacki). They are swiftly followed by: Ana Ivanovic (5), Petra Kvitova (6), Simona Halep (7) and Agnieszka Radwanska (10). Yet no sign of big name sponsorship for the tour that brings these stars all around the world?

Just recently the WTA was rocked by the sudden standing down of its CEO Stacey Allaster. Under her tenure, the WTA became a billion dollar enterprise. Now all eyes will turn to new CEO Steve Simon, former Tournament Director of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.

He has some … well… immaculate shoes to fill (we won’t say if they are big or not) but scheduling, sponsorship and a distinct lack of calculators would be very welcome if we are to avoid spending the rest of this week trying to figure out if Kerber can make the cut or even what the seeding is likely to be for the culmination of the women’s tour at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global (to give it its full and proper name). May we humbly suggest the first thing… is to rename the WTA Finals? Then maybe we might get out our spreadsheets and figure out the seedings for the great mythical 2015 WTA Finals line-up!

( Link to the Official List From Forbes.com : http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mli45fdllh/the-worlds-highest-paid-/ )

Topics: Agnieszka Radwanska, Ana Ivanovic, Caro Wozniacki, Ladies tennis, Maria Sharapova, Petra Kvitova, Serena Williams, Simona Halep, Sports, Tennis News, Wta