BEWITCHED, BEWILDERED AND… BEDAZZLED AS KVITOVA AND RADWANSKA STUN SHARAPOVA AND MUGURUZA TO MAKE THE WTA FINALS IN SINGAPORE BY GLOBAL CHICK

Written by: Global Chick on 31st October 2015

BNP Paribas WTA Finals 2015 in Singapore

BEWITCHED, BEWILDERED AND... BEDAZZLED AS KVITOVA AND RADWANSKA STUN SHARAPOVA AND MUGURUZA TO MAKE THE WTA FINALS IN SINGAPORE BY GLOBAL CHICK

epa05004350 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in action against Garbine Muguruza of Spain during their singles semi-final match in the BNP Paribas WTA Finals 2015 held at the indoor stadium in Singapore, 31 October 2015. EPA/WALLACE WOON |

Ok so perhaps you can forgive a little liberty with the quote but what a staggering day of tennis. The pre-match chatter generally believed that if the first semi-final between Garbiñe Muguruza and Agnieszka Radwanska was dragged out to three sets, it could favour the ever-taped Pole as Muguruza was beginning to look a little weary with all this Singles and Doubles malarkey.

When Radwanska sprinted off to a 4-1 lead, we all shrugged and figured that for her debut and a year-ending No. 3 in the World spot, it was not a bad finale for the Spaniard. We didn’t plan on her not only coming back from 1-4 down in the set, but just for good measure repeating that feat in the ensuing tie-break.

Whatever quiet words of wisdom that Sam Sumyk had whispered in the coaching timeout had galvanised her into action, yet once more at the start of the second set it was Radwanska calling the shots and jumping out to a 4-1 lead again (sound familiar? You might want to make a note of that score). While Muguruza would get a couple more games on the board it was all Radwanska at this point.

Remember 4-1? Yep once more it was the Pole leading Muguruza a merry dance, before suddenly she started to string together the winners that had seemed to go for a trip around the mall. But it was just a stretch too far – Having to serve to stay in the semi-final and to force a tie-break, starting with a double fault was an interesting way to go! She saved one match point but a scooped shot found the net. It would have been just fabulous if this was football… but it is not!

Radwanska rarely shows emotions so it was rare to see her almost tearful on her on-court interview, after her 6-7(5) 6-3 7-5 victory.

She said afterwards: “I was just so happy to get through that match. Like I was saying before, I didn’t really expect to be in the semis after the first losses and now it’s the final. So that was really big match. Well, a lot of emotion during that match I think all three hours. I’m just so relieved that it’s over and I could win that match.

“Sometimes like, Oh, my God. It’s in! But tennis is so fast, so you’re not really have time to think. That’s just the reaction. We have not even a second to make shot, a decision, and it’s just suddenly there. But, well, I’m just always very happy to make those shots. Well, yeah. (Smiling.)”

Muguruza was all charm and smiles in her press conference – especially as she had to keep her energy up for the doubles semi-final.

She said: “In the first set like I kind of give it all, and then it was hard for me to start the second one. But, well, I just wanted to give everything I had, and doesn’t matter how long I was going to be able to keep it. I just went out there, and if I die on the court, I die, but at least I go out from there happy.

“I’m super happy the way I played. I think it’s amazing: Tokyo, Wuhan, Beijing, and here and be able to keep the level and go out there and just have amazing matches.”

So could the next semi-final top that in terms of sheer drama? It has been an amazing comeback tournament for Maria Sharapova. Over the course of the week she has revealed just how hard she has worked while recovering to prepare herself for the tilt at the end of the season. The very fact that she had qualified so early had given her a chance to be in this position.

Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in action against Maria Sharapova of Russia during their singles semi-final match in the BNP Paribas WTA Finals 2015 held at the indoor stadium in Singapore, 31 October 2015. EPA/WALLACE WOON

She battled through some grueling round robins to head the group 3-0 but take nothing away from Kvitova – when she is on, she can beat anyone. Yesterday she was not even sure she would play the semi-final and made it thanks to her Fed Cup team-mate dumping Angelique Kerber in straight sets.

And this pair will be going at it in the Fed Cup Final in a few days time, so it was going to be key to see if Kvitova’s focus was there. With the pair swapping breaks to begin with, it was the Czech who would finish the first set with a little more of a flourish as Halloween started to work its black magic on Sharapova.

She certainly came out far stronger in the second set. But from 5-1 up and on the brink of forcing the decider that many of us were convinced would spell doom for the weary Czech, all Sharapova’s form seemed to seep away.

She never stops fighting though and started the tie-break well, Kvitova took off on a tear once more, taking the next four straight points and handing us a final with two players who actually advanced to the semi-finals with 1-2 records! Given Angelique Kerber’s dissatisfaction with the round robin format after losing to Safarova in straight sets (remember, she only needed to win one set to advance), needless to say we think Radwanska and Kvitova are probably fans of the format!

Sharapova said: “I didn’t have expectations coming into this week. Of course it’s always tough to sit after a match and say you’re happy, especially after you lose it. But I think it would be quite unprofessional of me to not take a lot of positives out of this week. I think there’s a lot to look forward to in the off‑season and next year, yeah, as well as couple of the matches in two weeks.

“I was able to play quite physical matches and get through them. I think that was something that I wasn’t sure of coming into this week because I hadn’t played a lot.

“I don’t know what to expect [from the Fed Cup Final]. I know it’s going to be much more difficult than the first time around, but it’s never easy playing away and never easy being in the final as well. Yeah, I just look forward to the experience. Something new for me.”

The confidence and humour of Kvitova, certainly this year in press, came out again as she described the last 24 hours, where she had all but said so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen and goodbye to her season.

She said: “It’s very weird, I have to say. Yesterday I was talking about my season, and it’s still not over yet. But I’m happy for that for sure. I mean, I couldn’t really believe that I going to play semifinal; now I’m the final, which is very interesting. I’m really looking forward. I think Aga is kind of in the same situation, so it’s going to be interesting.

“[She is a] difficult opponent, for sure. She’s very smart. I think she has a lot the variety on the court. She getting so many balls, so sometimes it feels that she’s never‑ending story on the court. So it’s really about the patient and still be kind of sharp, but playing a lot of shots and rallies. It’s difficult. But last match of the season for her, for me ‑ even if I’m not counting with the Fed Cup ‑‑ so both of us will leave everything out there tomorrow.”

Kvitova and Radwanska are scheduled in the final on Stadium, not before 6:30pm local time.

Which came first – the Chicken, or the Dumpling

Finally, after much searching – Global Chick struck food and liquid gold! With an earlier finish thanks to the star-studded Singapore Evening of Tennis, we struck off in search of good quality dim sum in the city-sized Marine Bay complex.

We even learned a thing or two. For example the nice porcelain spoon is perfect for holding your nibble-in-progress dumpling – especially the signature steamed chicken one that has stealth soup injected into it while it steams – we did NOT want to be the guests who managed to have soup spurt out all over them! All in all it was a fantastic spread of food, made better by finally getting to grips with the famous Singapore Sling.

More than that – apart from catching the WTA Legends getting their groove on to Paloma Faith, we were treated to some outstanding views of the city on a largely haze free evening after what has been quite a long week!

It is views like this that make us appreciate Singapore as a venue and a place to spend a week and a half covering the year end finale.

Photo by Global Chick

Topics: Agnieszka Radwanska, Garbine Muguruza, global chick, Ladies tennis, Maria Sharapova, Petra Kvitova, Singapore, Tennis News, WTA Finals

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10sBalls_com says:

October 31, 2015 at 8:58 am

Bewitched Bewildered And… Bedazzled As Kvitová And Radwanska Stun Sharapova And Muguruza To Make The #WTFinals https://t.co/tMqZfszwSO
jmcwida says:

October 31, 2015 at 11:29 am

RT @dlSingapore: BEWITCHED, BEWILDERED AND… BEDAZZLED AS KVITOVA AND RADWANSKA STUN SHARAPOVA AND MUGURUZA TO MAKE THE WTA FINA… https://…