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Dominika Cibulkova’s hopes of qualifying for a debut appearance at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global came down to the wire. The Slovak needed to win the Generali Ladies Linz to assure herself a spot among the Greatest Eight, and did just that.

“It was really important for me that I won there,” she said in Singapore. “It’s not every day that I’m coming to a tournament and I have to win it to get somewhere, and then I actually won the whole thing.

“It was just a great week for me, and all happened so quickly. In two days I flew here.”

Cibulkova turned around a tough start in the round robin stage to stun 2014 finalist Simona Halep in straight sets, and overcame a 1/16 longshot of qualifying for the semifinals to knock out Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semis before overcoming World No.1 Angelique Kerber in the championship match.

“I cannot find the right word in English, but in the first match I played against Angelique, that gave me confidence that I can beat her,” she said of avenging her round robin loss in the final.

“My game is good enough to beat the World No.1. I was going into this final with these thoughts and I was feeling it from the first point until the last point.”

By beating the Australian Open and US Open champion, Cibulkova assured herself of a career-high ranking and a Top 5 finish for 2016, a place she sees as a launch pad for even greater success.

“Right now I don’t doubt myself anymore. I never doubted myself this year at all. I always had my coach to motivate me, to put the bigger goals for me. That was something I was dealing with; I never saw myself as such a great player, or a consistent player, somebody who could be Top 5.

“My coach said, ‘Domi, you had a great half of the season, but you’re able to have a great second half of the season. You just have to still stay focused and work hard. You can be Top 5 at the end of the year’.

“I really, really believed him for the first time in my life. I believed, ‘Okay, this is something I can do, I want to do.’

“I’m not saying I was coming to this tournament to win it, but when I was so close before the finals, I was convinced that I can beat Angie today.”

That new sense of determination paid off in Singapore, and it certainly helped her earn her the mantle of October’s WTA Player of the Month!

Final Results for October’s WTA Player Of The Month

1. Dominika Cibulkova (55%)
2. Agnieszka Radwanska (33%)
3. Angelique Kerber (12%)

2016 WTA Player of the Month Winners

January: Angelique Kerber
February: Carla Suárez Navarro
March: Victoria Azarenka
April: Angelique Kerber
May: Garbiñe Muguruza
June: Serena Williams
July: Simona Halep
August: Monica Puig
September: Petra Kvitova

How it works:

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

The third edition of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global featured first-time champions in singles and doubles, a new year-end singles World No.1 in Angelique Kerber and the crowning of Sania Mirza as the top doubles player of the year. The 2016 Finals also set records off the court thanks to an unprecedented increase in social media engagement.

Dominika Cibulkova’s unexpected run to the final on her tournament debut was experienced by more fans than ever. Compared to the 2015 tournament, Facebook video views were up 571%, engagement on WTA-operated social media platforms increased by 247% and wtatennis.com referrals from social media improved by 167%.

The upsurge in engagement was driven by a ‘social first’ content strategy featuring on and off-court action, humorous player videos, match reporting, opinion editorials, innovative design and behind the scenes video on Facebook Live, Instagram Stories and Snapchat. The best-performing content pieces included the moment Cibulkova won title, a Facebook Live fan Q&A with Indian superstar Mirza, Svetlana Kuznetsova’s on-court haircut and live coverage of the iconic photoshoot, draw and gala dinner.

The increase in exposure was not just limited to web platforms with the 2016 Finals yielding a 4% increase in global TV household reach compared to 2015, thanks to increased exposure in Russia, Germany and Austria.

In addition to Cibulkova’s upset victory over Kerber, Olympic gold medalists Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina broke Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova’s 18-match winning streak to lift the Martina Navratilova WTA Finals Doubles Trophy. Mirza finished as year-end World No.1 doubles player for a second consecutive season. Mirza has held the No.1 ranking for 83 consecutive weeks.

Melissa Pine, Vice-President of WTA Asia-Pacific and Tournament Director of the WTA Finals, said, “The Road to Singapore this year has been yet another exciting race to the finish line and the tennis action at the WTA Finals has truly reflected the top quality level of play among the greatest eight of 2016. We are thrilled with how the fans in Singapore and around the world have warmly embraced the event as well as shown their enthusiasm for women’s tennis.”

Angelique Kerber’s stunning maiden Grand Slam victory in Melbourne set the tone for a rollercoaster 2016 WTA season, but she wasn’t the only name to make her mark Down Under as Victoria Azarenka, Monica Puig and Svetlana Kuznetsova highlighted the first few weeks of WTA action during the Australian Swing.

The Rise of Angelique Kerber

Following a career-best season in 2015 – where she picked up four titles and finished the year at No.10 – Angelique Kerber stayed on course in Australia, but even she had no idea what was to come.

After being blown off the court by an inspired Victoria Azarenka in the final of the Brisbane International and being forced to withdraw from the Apia International Sydney in the second round due to a gastrointestinal illness, the German went straight to Melbourne for the first Grand Slam of the year.

Kerber, who’d she’d previously never advanced past the fourth round of the Australian Open – saved match point in her first match against Misaki Doi and went on to put together a clinical run to the final, where she locked horns with Serena Williams.

She stunned the tennis world by defeating the then-World No.1 in a thrilling three sets and lifting her maiden Grand Slam title, ending a 17-year major title drought for German tennis and cementing her place at the top.  

Vika’s Red-Hot Australian Summer

Australia has been Victoria Azarenka’s home away from home for several years, but this time it was in Brisbane, not Melbourne, where the two-time Australian Open champion made her mark.

Starting the year ranked No.22, Azarenka tore through the draw at the Brisbane International without dropping a set. In fact, the Belarusian lost just 17 games en route to the first title of the year, a feat which still stands as the fewest games lost in winning a WTA title in 2016.

She went on to reach the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, her best result there since 2014, and picked up another two titles before succumbing to injuries – a back injury in Madrid, a right knee injury during the French Open – and finally putting an end to her season following the announcement of her pregnancy.

Puig and Kuznetsova Foreshadow 2016 Brilliance

In Sydney, a pair of surprising names who reached the final at the second Premier-level event of the year.

Puerto Rican qualifier Monica Puig, then ranked No.94, reached the second WTA final of her career after posting wins over a trio of Top 30 players, Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, Samantha Stosur and Belinda Bencic (via retirement). She faced Svetlana Kuznetsova, who’d just pulled off her biggest win since 2009 over No.2-ranked Simona Halep in the semifinals.

Even though Kuznetsova went on to drop just two games in her dominant victory over Puig, the pair’s surprise run to the Sydney final served as a preview for what was in store for Puig and Kuznetsova later in the season.

Elsewhere, Agnieszka Radwanska continued where she left off at the 2015 WTA Finals, returning to the home of her best tennis in Asia and picking up a title at the International-level Shenzhen Open. Sloane Stephens also took home the ASB Classic in Auckland and Alizé Cornet won in the Hobart International.

– Photos courtesy of Getty Images

ROME, Italy – Christina McHale celebrated her 24th birthday by scoring another good win over a quality opponent, beating Ana Ivanovic, 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-1 to advance to the Round of 16 at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. Currently ranked No.56, McHale has quietly put together a strong four months that has seen her notch wins over Garbiñe Muguruza, Karolina Pliskova, Samantha Stosur, and Caroline Garcia.

Once ranked as high as No.24 in 2012, McHale finally seems to have put her injury and illness woes behind her.

“I think I’m physically stronger now,” McHale told WTA Insider. “I worked a lot on my fitness and I think that’s been a key for me, is to get stronger. In terms of my game I think my game is the same. You definitely try to make improvements to your game but the base of my game hasn’t changed. I try to look for forehands and rely on my movement a lot.

“But in the past couple of months in particular I’ve been healthy, which is key for me. I had the mono a few years back and I had a shoulder injury last season. Knock on wood I’ve been healthy. If you can train for matches, anything can happen.”

Her win over Muguruza at the BNP Paribas Open was her first over a Top 10 player since she beating Caroline Wozniacki at the Aegon International in 2012. Later that fall, McHale was diagnosed with mononucleosis and she was unable to back up her results in 2013, falling to as low as No.114 in the rankings. As she fought to get back into the Top 50, a shoulder injury stalled her entire 2014 off-season.

“I had a small SLAP tear,” McHale said. “I felt it on my serve. I didn’t serve once the entire off-season. Then I went to Australia and tried to play through that and it just wasn’t getting any better. After Australia I had to take a whole month off and do a bunch of rehab or therapy on it. “

Given her rise through the rankings four years ago it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking the New Jersey native is still one of the young guns on the tour. But at 24-years-old, McHale even admits she’s much more wary about the wear and tear on her body these days. Gone were the days she could just walk on court with minimal warm-up and play a three-set match. She’s had to become much more professional in how she treats and protects her body.

“I notice I have to take a lot more care of my body now,” McHale said with a laugh. “I have a whole routine I do for my shoulder, just to keep it good. All the stretching and stuff that I didn’t do in the beginning of my career.”

But her resilience has paid off. Last month she scored a key win for the United States Fed Cup team in sealing a win over Australia, beating Stosur in a tough three sets. Of all the wins she’s racked up this season, this was the sweetest.

“It was just so special to have a win that meant so much for the team and playing Fed Cup is such an honor,” she said. “I think it had been four years since I had a Fed Cup win so it was really exciting for me.”

Next up for McHale is the ultimate test in tennis: Serena Williams. The two Americans will face off for the second time in two months. McHale took Serena to three sets at the Miami Open in April, only to lose 6-3, 5-7, 6-2.

“It was the first time I had played her in a match,” McHale said. “It’s really good that I’ve had that experience, but she’s the type of player that when she’s on there’s really not much you can do. But I’m going to compete really hard and try and impose my game like I did in Miami.”

Asked whether there were rumblings in the locker room about the possibility of some signs of vulnerability from Serena this season, McHale beamed a knowing smile. Come on, you guys. This is Serena.

“In my opinion, you can never count her out,” she said. “She’s done everything she’s done for a reason. You have to be ready. No matter what the circumstances are she’s super tough.”

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.