Tennis News

The finalists for the 2016 WTA Player Of The Year awards were announced just hours ago, but Serena Williams has already cast her vote.

Eagle-eyed Instagram users spotted the former World No.1 leaving a comment on the WTA’s Instagram page that left little doubt as to which player she thought had the best season, and it’s no surprise who she voted for.

Serena has cast her vote for @WTA Player of the Year. pic.twitter.com/9WcckWn8WK

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) October 14, 2016

Did you catch it? Here’s who Serena voted for in the 2016 WTA Player Of The Year award:

The comment comes as no surprise, as the pair’s fierce rivalry this year has played out across two Grand Slam finals, with Kerber winning her maiden major title at the Australian Open and Serena later getting her revenge at Wimbledon in her record-tying 22nd Grand Slam title.

Kerber finally unseated Serena as the WTA World No.1 in September after the German won the US Open, but Serena had foreseen her rise much earlier than that.

After her loss in the final in Melbourne back in January, an introspective Serena was asked about Kerber’s rise to World No.2, and she had this to say:

QUESTION: Pretty deserved No. 2 in the world now?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I think so. I mean, she’s had a great month. She got to the finals in Brisbane. She won here. So, yeah. I was surprised and really happy for her. I’m like, Whoa, No. 2.

What’s after 2 is 1, so I guess I better be careful (laughter).

LINZ, Austria – No.2 seed Dominika Cibulkova edged past No.4 seed Carla Suárez Navarro in straight sets to reach the final at the Generali Ladies Linz, her fourth WTA final of the year.

Both players came into Linz with Singapore on the mind, hoping to grab a last-minute qualification spot into the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

With the victory Cibulkova, who currently sits ninth on the Road To Singapore leaderboard, takes a big step toward qualifying for the season-ending event; she will qualify if she wins the title, so long as Svetlana Kuznetsova doesn’t win at the Tianjin Open.

“It’s a good feeling to know that I have a chance at the Finals,” Cibulkova said. “That’s why I came here. I knew that I needed to reach the final or win the tournament to have something from it, and I just handled that so good.”

Cibulkova opened the match with a comfortable service hold, but against the tricky Spaniard things quickly became complicated. The pair went on to break each other’s serve nine consecutive times in the opening set, and Cibulkova’s lone hold proved to be decisive as she took the set 6-4.

The Slovak held her ground in the second set, attacking Suárez Navarro’s one-handed backhand with her aggressive forehands, and she broke twice to take the match 6-4, 6-3 in just under an hour and a half.

Cibulkova will face Viktorija Golubic in the final after the Swiss player received a walkover in to the final from Madison Keys. Keys withdrew from her semifinal match due to respiratory illness.

“Maybe physically it’s an advantage for her, but this match against Carla gave me special confidence,” Cibulkova said of her opponent’s day off. “I just want finish here with a good feeling and go for it, and just keep playing like today.”

Hong Kong, SAR – Caroline Wozniacki re-asserted an unwavering desire to return to the top of the women’s game, one she continues to prove by winning her 25th career WTA title at the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open.