The best thing about the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia is… gonna have to think about this.
The singles has been high level tennis but every player competing there has the same game – all nine players hit two handers and stick to the baseline.
I remember when the Finals were staged at the “World’s Greatest Arena” Madison Square Garden in New York City and the event featured a range of different styles, like Nathalie Tauziat’s constant attacking the net and showcasing her fine volley skills… Steffi Graf and Gabriela Sabatini using slice backhands with their one handed but multi dimensional stroke … Conchita Martinez also had a nice, elegant slice… the lethal lefthanded aggressive tactics of Monica Seles and Martina Navratilova.
But the grand event eventually sputtered out of New York and transferred to the west coast in Los Angeles and then a series of different locations.
The highest ranked lefty today is the 28 year old Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil and she’s ranked 17 after reaching her career high of 10 last year. Following Haddad Maia in the lefty rankings is Leylah Fernandez at 32. It’s odd how there are so few lefthanders at the top of the WTA.
Aryna Sabalenka clinched the world no. 1 ranking this week and is in the semis vs. Coco Gauff. The other semi pits Qinwen Zheng vs Barbora Krejcikova.
Maybe the best match of the week was Chan Hao-ching and Veronika Kudermetova saving two match points to beat Errani and Paolini 36 76 11-9 to qualify for the semis vs. Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, who won Wimbledon. Gaby Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe will play Nicole Melichar and Ellen Perez in the other semi. Tough luck award goes to Desirae Krawczyk and Caroline Dolehide who lost all three of their round robin matches in super tiebreakers after winning the first set in all their duels.
The crowds have been okay. The post match on court interviews by Andrew Krasny have become stale because every question, no matter how hard Krasny tries to spice them up with multi sentences and voice inflections, always draw the same answers – Thank you to the crowd for the support, I played very well and my opponent also played well…
The time has arrived to break tradition and pop in some Biofile questions and make the players think – favorite ice cream flavor, what is a funny memory of your career, strangest match of your life, what did you eat for dinner last night?
If no one is available to ask the players these questions, I will do it for a nominal fee plus travel expenses.
You can probably surmise that the WTA presentation of the Finals can be improved a little bit, or perhaps a lot. It’s a wonderful event showcasing terrific talent but the packaging needs some adjustments.
Aryna Sabalenka · Barbora Krejcikova · Coco Gauff · Qinwen Zheng · Saudi Arabia · WTA · WTA Finals
Scoop Malinowski · November 8, 2024 at 1:25 pm
Qinwen is crushing it… Since post Wimbledon 31-5 (86.1%)
31-2 vs. players not named Sabalenka (93.9%)
I like her stance on avoiding bothering to try to make friends with WTA players: “I decided don’t try to make a friend on tour because there’s so many people outside of tennis world. Why I have to just make friends here? I come here to compete with them, to win”
catherine · November 8, 2024 at 1:43 pm
Hmm…..I’ve read that the crowds have been dire – but hard to tell from TV as most of the seats apart from courtside have been shrouded in darkness. But then women’s tennis isn’t big in SA.
Several players have quite nice net games but seem too frightened to display them. The court seems fastish.
Scoop Malinowski · November 8, 2024 at 6:24 pm
Catherine, court looks good, and some energetic fans, but most seem like travelers and not locals. Some good matches, finals may steal the show.
Scoop Malinowski · November 10, 2024 at 7:10 am
Nice win by Coco, perfect result for the tournament 76 in the third, they could not have written a better script. This match will surely have the locals buzzing and have a positive impact and hopefully the three year contract will be extended and the WTA Finals will continue to be played there.