Burning Questions Ahead of the 2015 WTA Finals
In the lead-up to its year-end championships in Singapore, the WTA has asked: "Who will rise to the top?"
The question is appropriate for a finals without the No. 1-ranked Serena Williams. A year-end championship without the top player impacts the level of competition and the fanfare. However, it gives another player an opportunity to grab the spotlight.
Who will rise? That's just one of the questions ahead of the WTA Finals.
The Serena-less event gets underway this weekend. Simona Halep is seeded No. 1. Garbine Muguruza is seeded No. 2, edging out Maria Sharapova, who, without Williams in the mix, is the tournament's biggest name. Venus Williams earned second-alternate status. However, she is not in the Elite Eight lineup.
Halep has the most to gain. She can cut into Serena Williams' points lead and position herself to make an early run at the No. 1 ranking. Williams has so many points to defend next year.
Meanwhile, Muguruza can answer questions about whether she's another rising and quickly fading star or formidable Grand Slam contender.
Familiar faces such as Petra Kvitova and Agnieszka Radwanska are back. In fact, Kvitova and Radwanska are the only two players to participate in every WTA Finals since 2011. Can they play themselves back into the race for No. 1?
The eight players have been separated into two groups to begin the tournament's round-robin event. Halep, Sharapova, Flavia Pennetta and Radwanska make up the red group. Muguruza, Kvitova, Angelique Kerber and Lucie Safarova make up the white group.
The Elite Eight group is set. The players have already been dolled up and trotted out for pre-tournament festivities. The following are the burning questions ahead of the competition.
How Healthy Is Maria Sharapova?
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Sharapova arrived in Singapore early to take part in a number of promotional events. The five-time Grand Slam champion told Justin Ong of News Asia that despite recent injuries, she feels fit and ready to play.
“I haven't played long; it’s not convenient, but I'm healthy now," she said. "I spent the last few weeks healing up, and I came out here early to acclimatize.”
Could that be pre-tournament posturing? Just how healthy or hurt is Sharapova?
Sharapova enters the finals having not completed a match since Wimbledon. She's been bothered by forearm and leg injuries. She withdrew from the U.S. Open, and she retired from an opening match in the Wuhan Open.
The tournament's round-robin nature will test her fitness. If, when and how long she plays will answer the question regarding her health.
Can Flavia Pennetta Go Out on Top?
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When Flavia Pennetta announced her pending retirement, the U.S. Open seemed like her swan song. But the win propelled Pennetta into the WTA Finals for the first time in her career.
Unlike Halep and Sharapova, Pennetta has nothing to prove. She's already having a dream season and the best year of her career. How wonderful would it be for Pennetta to pull off the upset and finish her career as finals champion?
Pennetta told the New York Times' Christopher Clarey, “I was thinking after the U.S. Open, nothing was going to be better, but I have another unbelievable thing now that just improved it."
Can Pennetta punctuate her dream season with a fairytale ending?
How Will Simona Halep Handle Front-Runner Pressure?
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Halep has been chasing the No. 1 ranking for two years now. Because Williams gave up a chunk of points when she withdrew from this tournament, Halep has a chance to make up some ground in the rankings race.
But Halep is the front-runner—a status she hasn't handled well. Having the role of No. 1, even if it's just in this tournament, seems to rattle her. This is the biggest tournament in which she has ever held the No. 1 seeding.
A win here could quiet the conversation about her as a big-match choker.
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Can Garbine Muguruza Serve Notice?
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Garbine Muguruza, 22, is the youngest woman among the Elite Eight. She has quietly worked her way to a No. 2 seed at the finals.
The season began with Madison Keys and Eugenie Bouchard grabbing the headlines. But with steady play and coming up strong in big matches, Muguruza has displayed her championship chops.
She and Halep are the only women in the finals who are younger than 25. Unlike Halep, Muguruza doesn't fade away against top players. It's the opposite. She brought down 2012 Wimbledon finalist Radwanska in the semifinals at the All England Club this year. In 2014 she took out French Open defending champion Serena Williams in the second round.
Muguruza leads the red group against a bunch of hard-hitting lefties in Kvitova, Kerber and Safarova. If she can emerge from this group to reach the semifinals, she has a good chance of winning and challenging Halep at No. 2.
Who Rocked the Red Carpet?
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Unlike the ATP World Tour Finals in which all the players are dressed in the same suit at pre-tournament parties, the WTA allows the ladies to wear whatever they want.
They get professional makeovers and pose for glamorous pictures. Twitter and Instagram will be abuzz about who wore it best. Who looked best in the little black dress? Who went bold and chose something other than black? Hint hint, see Pennetta above in black and white. She's the 2015 party-crasher.
What Images Will Tell Untold Stories?
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Sharapova once declared that she has few friends on tour. As evidenced from the above photo and others that will be released via Twitter and other media outlets, Sharapova tends to separate herself from the rest of the field when it comes to mingling.
These types of photos often spark social-media conversations.
Last year, a photo depicting a backstage look at player interaction showed various players on their smartphones and conversing with each other. Only Eugenie Bouchard and Sharapova seemed disconnected from the rest of the group.
This year, what telling images will we get for insight into player relationships?
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