Tennis News

LINZ, Austria – Garbiñe Muguruza has secured her spot at this year’s BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global after becoming the sixth player to qualify for the WTA’s year-end event.

Muguruza is set to make her third consecutive appearance at the WTA Finals in Singapore, having qualified in the doubles field in 2014 with compatriot Carla Suárez Navarro and in both singles and doubles in 2015.

“I am very excited to come back to the WTA Finals in Singapore,” said Muguruza.”Two years ago I made it in doubles, and this will be my second year in a row playing singles – both times I had a great experience and am happy to be going back. There are still matches to be played before the Finals, so I want to keep going here in Linz.”

Last year, the Spaniard went 3-0 in the round-robin stage of the singles competition, falling to eventual champion Agnieszka Radwanska in the semifinals. She also reached the final in doubles with Suárez Navarro. This year, the 23-year-old joins Angelique Kerber, Serena Williams, Agnieszka Radwanska, Simona Halep and Karolina Pliskova in the singles field with two spots still left up for grabs.

“Congratulations to Garbiñe on qualifying for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global,” said WTA CEO Steve Simon. “Her fantastic year has solidified her among the eight best players in the world. Last year, she had a fantastic WTA Finals – going undefeated in the tough Round Robin stage – and we are excited to welcome her back to Singapore.”

After a breakout season in 2015, Muguruza kept the momentum rolling into 2016, clinching the biggest title of her career at Roland Garros – highlighted by her win over then World No.1 Serena Williams in the final. The Spaniard became the youngest first-time Grand Slam champion (22 years, 7 months) since Victoria Azarenka won the 2012 Australian Open aged 22 years, 6 months.

Other season highlights include two semifinal appearances at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia and the Western & Southern Open, and three quarterfinal runs at the Qatar Total Open , Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and the Toray Pan Pacific Open.

The current Road to Singapore Leaderboard as follows (as of October 10, 2016):

SINGAPORE – A late-season surge paved the way to the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global for Karolina Pliskova. However, the Czech, whose appearance is the culmination of a steady climb up the tennis ladder, is far from a one-hit wonder…

1) American dream
Pliskova impressed at the US Open this year. Playing in her 18th career Grand Slam, Pliskova advanced to the second week for the first time in her career. She saved match point against Venus Williams to make it to the quarterfinals, she shocked Serena Williams in the semifinals – and then came up just short in a thrilling final against Angelique Kerber.

2) Doing the double
Pliskova became the eighth woman ever to defeat both Williams sisters in the same tournament, and the fourth to do it at a major tournament. “There is not much better than to beat both sisters in one tournament in New York,” Pliskova said. “I’m really excited about those two wins.”

3) Victory over Venus
Pliskova’s win over Venus will have given her a smidge of satisfaction – it was the older Williams sister who beat her 7-5, 7-6(6) in the final at the WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai at the end of 2015.

4) Debut delight
Pliskova is making her debut in the WTA Finals after coming very close in 2015. Her run of form across tournaments in US Open, Nottingham and Cincinnati helped guide her qualification to Singapore. In addition to competing in singles, Pliskova will team up with Julia Goerges as one of the Top 8 doubles teams in the world competing at the WTA Finals.

5) Ranking rise in 2016
Pliskova rose to World No.6 after reaching the US Open final and nearly one month later made her Top 5 debut on October 10, 2016. In early August, she was ranked No.18.

6) Impressive climb
Her 2016 breakthrough has been the culmination of a steady climb up the ranks. Last year Pliskova finished just outside the Top 10 – having finished just outside the Top 20 the year before.

7) Twin magic
She and her sister Kristyna became the first twins ever to win a WTA doubles title in 2013 at Linz when they beat Gabriela Dabrowski and Alicja Rosolska in the final, 7-6 6-4.

8) Spot the difference
It’s easy to tell the Pliskova twins apart when they’re on court – Karolina plays right-handed, Kristyna left. You could also check their tattoos: Karolina has two Polynesian-style tattoos, one on her left thigh and on her left arm. Kristyna has one Polynesian-style tattoo on the inside of her left arm.

9) Top tournament
Pliskova lists her favorite tournament as the Australian Open, where she won as a junior; and in recent years, she has posted consecutive third-round appearances.

10) Sublime serve
Pliskova’s serve is perhaps her most well-known weapon. For the second consecutive year she has hit more than 500 aces, leading the WTA in both 2015 (517 aces) and 2016 (508). She also ranked second on the WTA in first serve points won (74.6%), trailing only Serena Williams (75.7%).

SINGAPORE – Angelique Kerber heads into the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global as World No.1 – and she intends to stay that way. It will be her fourth appearance at the tournament, where she will attempt to make it beyond the round robin stage for the first time.

1) Top notch.
Kerber looks set to end the year as the World No.1 – a position she achieved for the first time in September when she won her second Grand Slam, the US Open, and bumped Serena Williams off the top spot. If she does finish as year-end World No.1, she will be the 12th woman to do so since rankings were introduced in 1975.

2) Experience counts.
Kerber is the 22nd woman to achieve the World No.1 ranking – and, at 28 years old, the oldest to debut in that spot.

3) Flying the flag.
She is the first German to make it to World No.1 since Stefanie Graf – one of her idols.

4) First left.
She is also the first left-handed player to hit the heights of World No.1 since Monica Seles – last at the top of the rankings almost 20 years ago.

5) Queen of Consistency.
2016 will be Kerber’s fifth straight year in the Top 10 – but her first in the top five since 2012.

6) Triumphant 2016.
Kerber signalled her intentions when she beat Williams in the Australian Open final back in January – and she followed that up by reaching the Wimbledon final, when she lost narrowly to Williams. Kerber won 19 of 22 matches during the summer swing as she reached the semifinals in Montreal, collected a silver medal at the Olympics and was a finalist at Cincinnati – indeed, she played 11 matches in 14 days throughout that hectic period. It didn’t have too much of a detrimental effect on her, though – she rounded it off with her second Grand Slam title by defeating Karolina Pliskova in the US Open final.

7) 28 years later.
Not to emphasise her age too much, but Kerber is only the second woman to win her first two Grand Slam singles titles after turning 28. Li Na did it first, winning the 2011 French Open at 29 and, three years later, the Australian Open.

8) First loss.
Since reaching No.1, Kerber has lost to Petra Kvitova (Wuhan), Elina Svitolina (Beijing) and Daria Gavrilova (Hong Kong).

9) Final ambition.
Kerber insists the prospect of finishing the year at No.1 is not on her mind – and that her goal is simply to do well in Singapore.

10) Big challenge.
Despite making her debut at the WTA Tour Finals back in 2012, Kerber has yet to qualify out of the round-robin stage – indeed, during her debut she did not win a single match. She has qualified for the Finals in every year since, except for 2014 where she was an unused alternate. And she’ll be confident that she knows how to handle the pressure of the big occasion now – she drastically improved her three-set win percentage by 18.4 per cent (from 15-12 in 2015 to 17-6 in 2016). That includes both her Grand Slam victories, taking the finals in three sets – showing that she can win on the biggest stages of all.

March was packed with plenty of amazing shots – we narrowed it down to the five best.

In the end it was Agnieszka Radwanska once again who played one of many memorable shots to engineer a match point against the equally tricky Monica Niculescu. On her way to briefly reclaiming the World No.2 ranking for the first time since 2012, Radwanska hit a most improbable passing shot to stun the BNP Paribas Open crowd – and taking home this month’s top votes.

Click here to watch all of March’s finalists.

Final Results for March’s WTA Shot Of The Month

1. Agnieszka Radwanska (55%)
2. Simona Halep (33%)
3. Camila Giorgi (5%)
4. Serena Williams (4%)
5. Angelique Kerber (3%)

2016 WTA Shot of the Month Winners

January: Caroline Wozniacki
February: Agnieszka Radwanska

How it works:

Five shots are selected by wtatennis.com
Winner is then determined by a fan vote on wtatennis.com