Season Ending Championships Groups and Predictions

The groups are out! Great match ups ahead, one group definitely much stronger than the other. So here are my bold and sometimes irrational predictions!
Note: I will make pre-tournament predictions for individual matches and then predict them again just before they are played, taking into account other factors.

Red Group:
(1) Victoria Azarenka
(3) Serena Williams
(5) Angelique Kerber
(8) Li Na

The stronger group of the two with Victoria Azarenka who comes in on a 13 match win streak. Serena Williams being who she is will always be the favourite. Li Na is dangerous and Angelique has had a great year and is the only player in the field to beat Serena this year.

Predictions:
Victoria Azarenka def Kerber and Li
Serena def Kerber, Azarenka and Li
Li def Kerber

1st: Serena
2nd: Azarenka

White Group:
(2) Maria Sharapova
(4) Agnieszka Radwanska
(6) Petra Kvitova
(7) Sara Errani

Maria is the the 'in form' player of the group having reached the Beijing finals. Petra is unpredictable and could either cruise through to the finals or lose every single match. Radwanska is like a broken china doll, taped up everywhere and looking forward to wind down her year. Errani is back from injury and is playing her first, and likely last season ending championship in singles.

Predictions:
Maria def Radwanska, Kvitova and Errani
Kvitova def Radwanska and Errani
Radwanska def Errani

1st: Maria
2nd: Kvitova

Semi finals:
Serena def Kvitova
Azarenka def Sharapova

Finals:
Serena def Azarenka

Doubles champions:
Errani and Vinci

Enjoy the Championships!

Week in review: Moscow and Linz

Hi everyone! With the SEC starting today, I guess you'll be hearing a bit more from me. Before the excitement begins, let's do a quick recap of the final regular tour stops of 2012 where 2 former world number ones made it to the winner's circle.

Moscow: Caroline Wozniacki, who won a tour leading 6 titles in 2011, book ends her somewhat dismal 2012 with her first premier title of the season. She beats top seed Samantha Stosur in 3 sets to clinch the title. Caroline was aggressive during the match and this win against one of the big hitters on the tour should give her some confidence for next year. As for Samantha, she ends 2012 empty handed after a breakthrough 2011 which saw her win her first slam. A somewhat dismal year for the 2011 US Open champion. It's worth noting that Sam has only won 3 titles in her career, one of which being a Grand Slam. Another former number one, Ana Ivanovic also had a decent week, recording solid victories before being outgunned by the top seed, Samantha Stosur.

Linz: Great to see Venus back in the winner's circle! With the victory, there is a possibility of seeing Venus play again at Sofia this year! It has been a difficult year for the elder Williams. Having returned to the tour following her diagnosis with an autoimmune disease which leaves her tired most of the time. While she started the season strongly in Miami, her results somewhat tailed off, culminating in a disappointing straight sets loss at her favourite tournament in Wimbledon. Venus however, is not one to give up, with the echoes of retirement at the background, she silences her critics once again to capture her first title since Dubai 2010. She recorded a good win over Roberta Vinci in the semi finals who herself is having a breakout year in singles. With this victory, Venus plants herself safely in the top 25 ensuring she is seeded for the 2013 Australian Open where she will surely be a dangerous player to face. Remember, she did win Wimbledon 2007 as the 24th seed! I cannot be more happy for such a classy and gracious champion and I really hope Venus can return back to the elite in 2013.

Week ahead:
So with the end of the regular tour events of 2012, it's time to brace ourselves for the season ending championships. All top 8 players have descended upon Istanbul which featured the best SEC since NYC 2000 last year. Petra Kvitova looks to defend her title after a disappointing 2012. The one to watch however, is none other than Ms Serena Jameka Williams who hasn't played since the US Open. If Serena is healthy, look for her to win the title. However, Azarenka, who was painfully close to beating her at the US Open this year will look to try and get her first win over the younger Williams in more than 4 years.

A rather exciting prospect to end the season. Keep watching this space for predictions, commentary and other fun stuff!

Week in review: Japan and Linz

Hi Everyone. First I'd like to say it's a great pleasure to be covering blogging duties for Sean whiles he is out somewhere in the wilderness.

While the season ending championships don't start till next Monday, I thought I might just do a quick recap of the week that just went by. I will start recaps, previews and predictions for the YEC once the draw is out.

Tokyo:
Well done to Heather Watson! First British woman to win a tour event in nearly 25 years! I must say I wasn't impressed with her when I saw her playing Victoria Azarenka at Rod Laver Arena in the Australian Open this year. In fact, she didn't win a single game once I entered the court. Nonetheless it was a good showing from her and contributes to a banner year for British tennis. 1 Slam, 1 gold medal, 1 silver medal and now 1 WTA singles title. With the ascendancy of Laura Robson as well, this could mark a turnaround for Women's tennis in Britain who have not seen a top 10 British player since Jo Durie (who gives wonderful commentary on Eurosports).

Heather beat Chang from Chinese Taipei in 3 very tight sets to clinch the title. In case anyone is keeping score, it's Britain 1, Chinese Taipei 1, after Robson was beaten by Hsieh last week. Credit to Chang for beating the top seed, Samantha Stosur, who had yet another disastrous week. Where is the woman who pummeled the great Serena Williams with a loss of just 5 games in 2011?? US Open champions have always done well following their victory but Samantha has really gone the other way around. Perhaps she is ready to wind up the year after failing to qualify for the season ending championships.

Linz:
As expected, Victoria cruised to the title without the loss of a set throughout the tournament. But was anyone expecting less from the most consistent player on the tour in 2012? Especially with the 2nd seed being 13th ranked Ana Ivanovic? Other than a 4th round loss to Cibukova at Roland Garros, Victoria has been a model of consistency this year, if she can continue this momentum, she is likely to end the year ranked number one and would be deserving of the title of World Champion 2012. If she can get a win over Serena at the YEC it would only add to her resume for being the year end number 1. Nonetheless, 2012 has been a banner year for Victoria and hopefully she can continue to perform well.

Credit to the wildly unpredictable Julia Goerges for reaching the finals. That woman can beat anyone on a good day (except maybe Serena Willaims) and if she can harness her power, she can be a fixture in the top 20 and battle for titles like her other German compatriots.

Introducing my guest contributor!

Hi all,

As I am away for the next few weeks, my friend Luke has kindly volunteered to do the predictions for the YEC. He has been an avid WTA follower for the past 10 years and I believe he will also do a good job at analysing the match-ups! Feel free to disagree with him though as he is a blind supporter of Agnieszka Radwanska. LOL!

2012 in a nutshell

Before I leave, I have compiled the list of winners (and losers) for this year. It will be a good indicator as who performed the best (and the worst) throughout this year.

January:

Brisbane:
Winner: Kaia Kanepi
Wooden spoon: Anastasiya Yakimova
Auckland:
Winner: Zheng Jie
Wooden spoon: Jelena Dokic
Sydney:
Winner: Victoria Azarenka
Wooden spoon: Samantha Stosur
Hobart:
Winner: Mona Barthel
Wooden spoon: Heather Watson
Melbourne:
Winner: Victoria Azarenka
Wooden spoon: Anna Chakvetadze

February:

Paris:
Winner: Angelique Kerber
Wooden spoon: Alberta Brianti
Pattaya:
Winner: Daniela Hantuchova
Wooden spoon: Laura Robson
Doha:
Winner: Victoria Azarenka
Wooden spoon: Zheng Jie
Bogota:
Winner: Lara Arruabarena-Vecino
Wooden spoon: Mathilde Johansson
Memphis:
Winner: Sofia Arvidsson
Wooden spoon: Nadia Petrova
Dubai:
Winner: Agnieszka Radwanska
Wooden spoon: Monica Niculescu
Monterrey:
Winner: Timea Babos
Wooden spoon: Coco Vandeweghe
Acapulco:
Winner: Sara Errani
Wooden spoon: Patricia Mayr-Achleitner
Kuala Lumpur:
Winner: Hsieh Su-Wei
Wooden spoon: Olga Puchkova

March:

Indian Wells:
Winner: Victoria Azarenka
Wooden spoon: Shahar Peer
Miami:
Winner: Agnieszka Radwanska
Wooden spoon: Anabel Medina-Garrigues

April:

Charleston:
Winner: Serena Williams
Wooden spoon: Alla Kudryavtseva
Barcelona:
Winner: Sara Errani
Wooden spoon: Barbora Strycova-Zahlavova
Copenhagen:
Winner: Angelique Kerber
Wooden spoon: Valeria Savinykh
Stuttgart:
Winner: Maria Sharapova
Wooden spoon: Dominika Cibulkova
Fes:
Winner: Angelique Kerber
Wooden spoon: Arina Rodionova
Estoril:
Winner: Kaia Kanepi
Wooden spoon: Ekaterina Makarova
Budapest:
Winner: Sara Errani
Wooden spoon: Anne Keothavong

May:

Madrid:
Winner: Serena Williams
Wooden spoon: Marion Bartoli
Rome:
Winner: Maria Sharapova
Wooden spoon: Agnieszka Radwanska
Brussels:
Winner: Agnieszka Radwanska
Wooden spoon: Marion Bartoli
Strasbourg:
Winner: Francesca Schiavone
Wooden spoon: Mandy Minella
Roland Garros:
Winner: Maria Sharapova
Wooden spoon: Alize Cornet

June:

Birmingham:
Winner: Melanie Oudin
Wooden spoon: Chang Kai-Chen
Bad Gastein:
Winner: Alize Cornet
Wooden spoon: Nina Bratchikova
's Hertogenbosch:
Winner: Nadia Petrova
Wooden spoon: Iveta Benesova
Eastbourne:
Winner: Tamira Paszek
Wooden spoon: Caroline Wozniacki
Wimbledon:
Winner: Serena Williams
Wooden spoon: Monica Niculescu

July:

Stanford:
Winner: Serena Williams
Wooden spoon: Anne Keothavong
Palermo:
Winner: Sara Errani
Wooden spoon: Dia Evtimova
Carlsbad:
Winner: Dominika Cibulkova
Wooden spoon: Sesil Karatantcheva
Bastad:
Winner: Polona Hercog
Wooden spoon: Sandra Roma
Baku:
Winner: Bojana Jovanovski
Wooden spoon: Caroline Garcia
London Olympics:
Winner: Serena Williams
Wooden spoon: Marina Erakovic
Washington:
Winner: Magdalena Rybarikova
Wooden spoon: Melanie Oudin

August:

Montreal:
Winner: Petra Kvitova
Wooden spoon: Urszula Radwanska
Cincinnati:
Winner: Li Na
Wooden spoon: Kiki Bertens
New Haven:
Winner: Petra Kvitova
Wooden spoon: Timea Babos
Dallas:
Winner: Roberta Vinci
Wooden spoon: Galina Voskoboeva
New York:
Winner: Serena Williams
Wooden spoon: Julia Glushko

September:

Tashkent:
Winner: Irina-Camelia Begu
Wooden spoon: Vlada Ekshibarova
Quebec City:
Winner: Kirsten Flipkens
Wooden spoon: Elena Vesnina
Seoul:
Winner: Caroline Wozniacki
Wooden spoon: Maria Kirilenko
Guangzhou:
Winner: Hsieh Su-Wei
Wooden spoon: Zarina Diyas
Tokyo:
Winner: Nadia Petrova
Wooden spoon: Alize Cornet
Beijing:
Winner: Victoria Azarenka
Wooden spoon: Kimiko Date-Krumm

Most titles:

Serena Williams (6), Victoria Azarenka (5), Sara Errani (4), Maria Sharapova (3), Agnieszka Radwanska (3)

Worst player:

Anne Keothavong (2), Alize Cornet (2), Marion Bartoli (2)

On a hiatus

Hi all,

I will be going overseas and will have no internet access for the rest of the month! So I won't be able to update this blog until I return which is in November.Sadly, I will miss out on the YEC but I will return for the mini-YEC held in Sofia! So have a great time following the players in Istanbul without me! :)

Beijing final: Sharapova fail

Bejing final:

Victoria Azarenka def. Maria Sharapova 6-3 6-1

Sharapova just cannot solve her Azarenka mystery as Victoria shows who is the real number 1 again. Errors from the Russian came fast and furious as she tried to hit past Victoria and failed badly. Azarenka is clearly at the top of her game now and with this win, she is guaranteed to end the year on top. Sharapova needs to work out her serve as it is too inconsistent to pressure the good returners. Maria will have to wait for her first hard court title since 2011 Cincinnati.