The WTA Finals so far did not disappoint us fans as the tournament provided us some adrenaline-filled action along with some interesting storylines.
In the Red group, Ashleigh Barty and Belinda Bencic both have a win and a loss, while Petra Kvitova has already suffered two losses already. Naomi Osaka, meanwhile, was forced to retire due to a lingering shoulder injury.
In the Purple group, Elina Svitolina and Simona Halep have notched key wins while Bianca Andreescu and Karolina Pliskova were the receiving end of some notable losses.
The road to the Final Four gets harder from here and our WTA Finals 2019 odds doesn’t seem to indicate any clear favourites to win the whole tournament.
With that said, allow SBOBET to give you a clearer picture of the tournament by providing you some important talking points.
Belinda Bencic survives Petra Kvitova
After a tough loss against Ashleigh Barty two days ago, Belinda Bencic’s chances of staying alive in the tournament looked to be in jeopardy.
But being adamant to fulfill her mission, Bencic delivered a great performance against Petra Kvitova, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 and she stayed very much alive in the tournament.
Bencic’s health was in question when she had her left heel taped during her three-set loss against Barty, but it’s a good thing that she never experienced any discomfort coming into this match.
The Swiss player put together a run of games in each of the sets she won en route to the victory, and she owes her success to her mindset coming in.
She mentioned that playing free and without pressure gave her the mental edge even if things got tough, especially when she lost on the second set.
“Somehow I didn’t even feel nervous. I had no pressure of not getting eliminated. I saw the script, like, what happens if this player wins, blah, blah, blah. I didn’t know before the matches. I just played. I knew if I don’t win this match I’m eliminated, but I didn’t think about it,” said Bencic.
“I don’t think she was at her best today either, even with the serve. I think it was a really difficult match, up and down. I was getting really, like, little bit angry. I think in the last three games I was happy I kind of hold my nerve in the end,” she added.
Belinda Bencic is set to face Kiki Bertens in her next group stage match as she boosts her bid towards the next round.
Kiki Bertens makes the most out of her opportunity
Kiki Bertens made her appearance in the WTA Finals when she came in as a late replacement for the injured Naomi Osaka.
Looking to make the most out of the rare opportunity, she was pitted against the top-seeded Ashleigh Barty in a match that would create some of the best WTA Finals 2019 highlights.
In a match that lasted for more than two hours, it was Barty who took control in the first set by opening the match with a love hold and closed out the stanza with two more – including two clinical angular backhand finishes.
However, Bertens bounced back in the succeeding sets. The Dutchwoman took advantage of Barty’s 15 unforced errors and she never looked back from there.
It was a splendid win for the 27-year-old, especially when her road to the WTA Finals was quite an arduous one. Bertens had already played in seven consecutive weeks since the US Open. Even though she appeared to be fatigued in some parts of the match, Bertens pulled through and she isn’t stopping now.
“As the match was continuing, I felt better and better. Just try to stay and play aggressive. I knew I had to do all those things, but I was not really feeling the body. I think I did it pretty well. Just keep coming into the net. I hit some great volleys today,” bared Bertens.
Naomi Osaka reflects on her season
Naomi Osaka was primed to be one of the favourites coming in to the WTA Finals coming off from back-to-back wins in the China Open and in the Toray Pan Pacific Open. However, she was forced to sit out on this one due to a shoulder injury.
“This is the second time I had to withdraw from the Finals. Yeah, it kind of sucks because I thought I was playing well. I definitely wanted to win here,” lamented Osaka.
Osaka started the season with a victory in the Australian Open for her second Grand Slam, but it took her eight months before she would return to a final after failing to defend her titles in the Indian Wells and the US Open.
The Japanese star was, of course, disappointed with the final outcome. However, she would rather look back and reflect at the positives that she experienced throughout this season.
“Surprisingly I think this year is better than last year, even though I cried way more this year than I did last year,” said Osaka.
“The thing that I’m most proud of myself is, like, after US Open I set goals. I felt like I had a purpose. I was able to win the tournaments here [in Asia]. That was definitely the highlight,” she added.
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