After Manic Monday in Singapore produced two dramatic three set matches, Tuesday was at the opposite end of the spectrum with two relatively swift straight setters. Tuesday was all about the red group and Angelique Kerber looks in a very promising position to qualify for the semi-finals of the WTA Finals for the first time in her career after beating Simona Halep, 6-4 6-2 in one hour and 22 minutes.
Kerber-Halep matches have been fun this year but not so much on this slow Singapore court. The first set was close with Kerber getting the early break but Halep played a superb game to break back to 3-3. The big point of the match came with Kerber down break point at *3-4 *30-40… as has so often been in the case in 2016, Kerber backed herself with a classic forehand down-the-line.
Kerber never looked back from that game as she rather strolled past an increasingly erratic, Halep. It was a nice day all round for Kerber who received her trophy for finishing 2016 as the world number one,
Here’s what Angie had to say after the match.
In the second match of the day, Madison Keys produced a significantly improved performance from her first match in Singapore to win her fourth consecutive match against Dominika Cibulkova, 6-1 6-4. Keys played a near-perfect first set, which was an absolute feast of fantastic forehands. The stats for the whole match are very impressive from Keys…
This was the shot of the match from Keys.
It was a tough day for Cibulkova who was outplayed and outpowered by an in-form Keys. There was a funny moment though at the start of the match where she forgot her ballkid! She talked about it in her press conference.
Madison’s been spending money in Singapore…
It’s that time of the year again… Round Robin scenarios! There’s only one possible scenario where Kerber doesn’t qualify and only one where Cibulkova does.
The doubles draw was conducted on Tuesday and this year it will be a knock-out format… i’m really disappointed by this decision by the WTA to can the round robin format that was used last year in Singapore.
Here’s the draw with matches starting on Thursday.
Wednesday will see the second set of matches from the white group. Previews of both matches, Karolina Pliskova v Svetlana Kuznetsova and Agnieszka Radwanska v Garbiñe Muguruza, are up on the blog at the link below.
It sounds like Simona may changing up her pre-season plans this year…
Some news away from Singapore… Auckland’s line-up for the first week of the 2017 season is looking superb!
And finally, the line-up for the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai starting next week has been confirmed and will include the following players…
Johanna Konta (10)
Carla Suárez Navarro (11)
Petra Kvitova (13)
Elina Svitolina (14)
Roberta Vinci (17)
Timea Bacsinszky (18)
Elena Vesnina (19)
Sam Stosur (20)
Barbora Strycova (21)
Kiki Bertens (22)
Caroline Garcia (23)
Zhang Shuai (28 WC)
Moo's Tennis Blog 
Look at Garcia qualifying for Zuhai!
LikeLike
I have to be honest, I was really surprised when I saw her name in the list… Didn’t realise Caroline was that high in the race!
LikeLike
Kudos to you, James! You predicted Madison to raise her game and she did. Cibulkova was completely overwhelmed. However, I’m not eager to see Madison qualify for the semis. She simply is too unpredictable. You never know what you get. Yesterday everything was clicking for her and she played a really smart match, too. It wasn’t about ball bashing. It’s amazing to witness but most probably, on another day, with other circumstances she will play really really bad – almost unwatchable. So for the sake of the semis, I’d prefer Angie, Cibulkova or Halep to make it. I know that Madison has somehow learned how to win ugly this season but I’m disappointed everytime she is throwing in an absolute stinker of a match. As a fan of tennis, I just don’t wanna see that on a regular basis 😛
As for the other – highly anticipated – match it proved to be quite meeeh. Halep made so many unforced errors. It reminded me of Angie’s match against Radwanska in Beijing last year where Angie tried to be aggressive but just made too many unforced errors.
LikeLike
Be real interesting if Keys beat Kerber and Halep beat Cibulkova.
I remember a couple years ago when Ivanovic was unfortunate enough to not make the semi’s despite winning 2 of her 3 robin matches.
LikeLike
yeah. I remember very well! I think it was in 2014 when Simona cushed Serena in her first ever WTA finals match. It was Ana, Genie, Serena and Simona in one group and Genie lost all three. While Simona d. Serena, Serena d. Ana. It was all about Ana d. Simona in two sets and Serena wouldnt have made it. But Simona won a set, thus Simona and Serena making it out of the group 😀
I think Angie needs a set of Keys. Don’t know about Halep and Cibulkova though. I assume Halep must beat Cibulkova in two?? I’ve seen a table somewhere on twitter with the scenarios.
LikeLike
Keys could well beat Kerber. She doesn’t really have much to lose and that’s when big hitters are most dangerous. Whether she can do it in straight sets remains to be seen. Kerber has stood up against pressure at almost every time of asking this year.
LikeLike
yeah she *could* but there’s also the H2H between the two. anyways..I’m excited about today and hope Plishy is going to win. I absolutely loved her smile after winning the match against Garbine. The biggest smile I’ve ever seen on her face 🙂
LikeLike
Haha! I agree though, as much as I do warm to Madison, that she’s going to have do something very special to beat Angie and qualify.
LikeLike
Angie played great tennis and clearly deserved to win. From what Simona said in her post-match interview about “missing a lot with her forehand”, however, I suspect it was the wrong time of the month for her (Simona).
LikeLike
I just think Simona gets it totally WRONG when she’s playing other defensive type players lately. Instead of trusting in her own skill and athleticism, which is far superior to most on the tour on any given day, she tries to boss rallies and play a super aggressive style of play which just doesn’t suit her!
LikeLike