Tom 2018 is the last year that the WTA Finals (Women’s Tennis Association Finals) will be played in Singapore. Having held the WTA Finals since 2014, the 2018 WTA Finals in Singapore, marks the end of a 5 year contract sponsored by BNP Paribas and SCglobal. Since this was the last year, we decided that we should try something new and catch the WTA Finals live in Singapore. And why not? Since all the WTA tennis stars are in Singapore, we thought it was a perfect opportunity to do so!
WTA Finals Singapore 2018 Opening Ceremony
If you’re taking the MRT to Singapore Indoor Stadium, you’ll pass by the WTA Finals Fan Village where fans can try their hand at tennis or purchase some WTA Finals souvenir. This time, we also caught the interview of the doubles team – Xu Yi-Fan and Gabriela Dabrowski before the start of session 1.
We also found out that the top 8 players that qualified to play in the WTA Finals Singapore would play round-robin games in 2 groups. The groups are drawn according to
Red Group – Angelique Kerber, Naomi Osaka, Sloane Stephens, Kiki Bertens and
White Group – Caroline Wozniacki, Petra Kvitova, Elina Svitolina, Karolina Pliskova
Of which, the top 2 from each group will emerge and play against players from the other group (i.e 1st in Red Group will play 2nd in White Group and vice versa) until the top player of WTA Finals Singapore 2018 emerges!
To enjoy the WTA Finals in Singapore, we also followed these rules quite closely…
Before the start of the matches, there was an opening ceremony where WTA Legends presented trophies and medals to WTA Future Stars. This time, we also saw Kim Clijsters and Monica Seles live in person!
WTA Finals Singapore 2018 – Session 1: Petra Kvitova vs Elina Svitolina
Soon, it was time to catch the session 1 match between Petra Kvitova and Elina Svitolina…
According to statistics, in the last 7 head to head matches, Elina only won once. This meant that Petra Kvitova, who won the 2011 WTA Finals in Turkey, would likely win this match rather easily. After the first couple of strokes, we also noticed Petra’s technique were much better, placing balls in better position…
However, as the match wore on, it was obvious that the younger (24 years old) Elina Svitolina, was in a better physical shape to win her older opponent (28 years old) Petra Kvitova. Eventually, Elina won Petra in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.
WTA Finals Singapore 2018 – Session 1: Caroline Wozniacki vs Karolina Pliskova
The second match of session 1 was between Caroline Wozniacki and Karolina Pliskova.
Again, as Caroline won the WTA Finals Singapore last year, we thought that she would easily claim victory. After the first few strokes, we also noticed that technique wise, she was a little better. However, this proved to be so wrong, especially after Karolina started to make those bigger services and aces…
Then, it became obvious that Caroline was not in good form while Karolina, with her heavy forehand strokes, were forcing Caroline to return with more strength, but to no avail.
Although there were some bright sparks and rally in the second set, where Caroline came back from 4-2 to close in at 5-4, she eventually loss the game in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4.
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This was the first time that we watched the WTA finals and we were glad that we were able to catch the matches during its last year in Singapore. As our seats were right behind the players, we were able to appreciate the top level techniques that the WTA players possessed. Every serve, forehand and backhand strokes were precisely executed – worthy of the high cash prizes ($7 Million USD) at these WTA Finals!
Visiting Singapore for the WTA Finals? Check out our post on where to stay during the WTA Finals Singapore!
