The final week of the 2018 WTA season is upon us with the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai. I was very much looking forward to watching and blogging about the tournament this week with such a stunning line-up. However, the coverage on WTA TV has been very disappointing. The first day was streamed as normal. When I came to watch the matches on catch-up on Tuesday night, all I got was a blank screen with intermittent commentary. When I checked again on Wednesday morning, the matches had been removed from the “On Demand” section. There were no live streams on Wednesday.
Sticking with tradition, the communication from the WTA has been absolutely non-existent. There has been no word as to why Zhuhai has been pulled from WTA TV, or alternatives for fans to watch. It seems very odd that they would pull the coverage during the tournament? It pisses me off that the WTA Twitter page continue to post random pointless replays of points without acknowledging the many comments directed at the account to why there is no coverage on WTA TV. I’ve sent a message on the WTA TV website but have yet to have a response.
Therefore, I won’t be blogging for Zhuhai unless they bring back streams as I rely on the catch-up function. It’s a real shame because I was more excited about Zhuhai than Singapore this year! Stay tuned for the WTA best of 2018 series coming soon on Moo’s Tennis Blog! π
*Update* I received a response from WTA TV on Wednesday night.
Moo's Tennis Blog 
From what I’ve seen so far, the matches have been quite competitive. If I read correctly online, switching the time for this tournament with the YEC could also improve the general coverage. Sadly, coverage of WTA matches is …….
If you can make the time, don’t forget to peel apart the top 10 predictions from last year for the 2018 season. I always find it an interesting read, cheers!
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Hopefully! Pleased they are finally switching Zhuhai with Singapore. I am planning to review last year’s predictions later this year π
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I’ve just looked at the Tennis Forum thread about this, and apparently there are places where you can see a live stream of the matches, such as the WTA’s facebook page;
https://www.tennisforum.com/12-general-messages/1325603-middle-tournament-wta-pulls-out-plug-zhuhai-coverage.html
Opinions seem divided though as to why it is that the WTA is failing to stream matches on its own dedicated channel. One poster blames Chinese media restrictions, another one on the generally poor management of the WTA.
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Aryna hit a 214 km/h (133 mph) serve yesterday;
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Yep, you can tell from the semi-final lineup that power players were reigning in this tournament. You have Julia Goerges, Barty, Muguruza and Keys. Garbine being the only one to win all her matches in her group. Not sure if that makes her a shoo-in for the title, some of those wins were a bit untidy.
Anett Kontaveit needs to find a game style that can help her to coast during tough periods. She is a whirlwind of power tennis, great when it works, but there needs to be a fallback plan. I hope she doesn’t get left behind by OSaka, Ostapenko, Barty, Sabalenka and her fellow power baseline peers.
But for a single game Garcia gave up to Sabalenka in her win, Ashley Barty qualified instead from the group. This round robin thing, ahhhh so annoying!
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That serve was NOT 214 kmph. I’ve only watched bits of the tennis this week, but that clock definitely isn’t working. Some of Garcia’s serves have been way up there but haven’t looked it…
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I t looked very fast to me, but whether or not it was 214 km/h I couldn’t say. I’ve noticed though that the WTA haven’t mentioned it on their site (as they did when Sabine broke the old record in 2014), so maybe they have doubts about it too although it is mentioned on Wikipedia as the second fastest serve of all time.
Congrats anyway to Ash on the title (and to Kiki Bertens on announcing her engagement).
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Really happy for Ash! What a solid year to back up the breakthrough in 2017.
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Yes. Kiki too; ,what a great year she’s had. Even though she didn’t win the title in Singapore, she at least got to the knockout stages.
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Yes great year for Kiki, I voted for her as the most improved player of 2018. I’m fascinated to see how she gets on next year. It will be tough to back up all those points. If she can maintain the positivity and drive then I don’t see why she can’t at least stay top 20. I’d always been baffled before she didn’t get the results away from the clay. Her serve has become a real weapon this year.
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Yeah it was disappointing that Garcia missed out on the semis by one game though! I really don’t like how Zhuhai had players who already played playing against those playing their first match, bit unfair!
I did love how friendly a lot of the girls were at this event though! Barty, Garcia and Georges seem pretty tight.
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Yes agreed, the schedule seemed a bit odd. I saw Kasatkina’s comments after having to play two days in a row. I was glad to see Barty win but generally was a disappointing week. Still annoyed at WTA’s lack of communication about why the tournament wasn’t streamed on WTA TV.
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Sad news, as The Moo’s favorite player Lucie Safarova, announces her retirement after the AO due to continuing health concerns.
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π’π’π’
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Belinda (Bencic) wins another title, an $80k one at the Red Rock country club in Las Vegas. Nicole Gibbs was the runner-up;
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