Finals day of the WTA championships saw 2nd seeds Peng Shuai and Hsieh Su-Wei contesting with Cara Black and Sania Mirza for the coveted Martina Navratilova trophy. Both teams are playing together for the last time, so they are both eager to end it on a high. However, it wasn’t mean to be for the Chinese/Chinese Taipei pair as they were plainly outclassed by Sania and Cara. Black/Mirza erased memories of their bad play yesterday and came out on fire. Peng’s level of play was particularly low, committing way too many unforced errors off the baseline. The first set was over in double quick time with a blazing backhand winner from Cara Black, 6-1.
Spectators expecting a better match in the second set were disappointed as the Chinese/Chinese Taipei duo continued to struggle. Hsieh tried to carry the team by venturing to the net to establish her presence, but Cara Black was just better. The Zimbabwean had lightning reflexes, and poached several volleys to make it a double break. Peng was under pressure to hold serve, but Cara and Sania were too good at the net, making clutch volleys to bring up the first match point. Peng saved the first one with a good serve, then again faced another one as she hit another forehand out. Punishing a high ball, Cara Black converted the 2nd match point with an easy smash into the centre of the court. The Zimbabwean/Indian pair had just whitewashed the other team 6-0 in the second set, ending the one-sided contest 6-1 6-0.
The Martina Navratilova trophy was presented by non-other than Martina Navratilova, ending a week-long of doubles action. Sania thanked the crowd for their support throughout the week, and acknowledged the impact of having such a tournament in Asia, with three players from Asia making the finals. Cara also revealed that Hsieh and Mirza will be partnering next year, and commented that Sania is in good hands.
With a capacity crowd in the Singapore Indoor Stadium, the audience was expecting a close match between world number One Serena Williams and Simona Halep. They were excited to see how Serena will react after her round-robin loss to Simona Halep, and if the Romanian can repeat the feat again. It sure looked that way at the beginning of the match. Serena looked tight from the first game, committing loose errors and even throwing in a double fault. However, Simona was unable to capitalise as Serena saved the break points with good serves. Games went according to serve until the third game, where Serena made mistake after mistake. A good backhand down the line induced another error from Serena, with the Romanian drawing first blood at 2-1.
Simona Halep looked poised to hold serve easily, until she committed a double fault to let Serena tie even at deuce. The game became extremely tight, with Simona saving 2 break points thanks to Serena’s blunders. The American will not be denied the third time though, as Halep dumped a weak forehand into the net for a break back to the world number 1. Serving at 2-all, Serena started booming down serves, getting her groove back on her delivery. Serena claimed the lead after another Simona error gave her the game to lead 3-2. Serena raised her arms in jest as she had won more games than their last encounter now.
Serena is swinging more freely now, as she punished Simona’s short second serves. Simona tried to block back these return bombs, but was unable to hold on as she was broken. 4-2 to Serena. In spite of this, Williams throws in two consecutive double faults in her next game, bringing up another break point. Simona ripped a forehand winner cross court for yet another break, levelling the match again at 4-3. An irate Serena was seen talking to herself and her box, and Halep started to show her anger as well in the eighth game, hitting the court with her racquet after missing an easy backhand. Despite serving an ace to bring up game point, Serena smashes Simona’s weaker second serve with venom, breaking Halep again to go up 5-3. Serving for the set, Serena blasted a 194km/h ace down the tee in that game, and yelled ‘come on’ when another of Simona’s serve return hit the net. First set to Serena 6-3.
With the first set in the bag, Serena swung freely, coupled with Simona’s belief deserting her. Simona lost serve immediately with her own loose errors, as Serena kept her foot on the pedal. The Romanian’s level dropped drastically as she hit error after error, while Serena raised her game as well. The American took to the net whenever a chance presented itself, and just bulldozed Simona from then on. A muted and defeated Halep lost serve 3 more times for the American to serve out the match. Racing to a 40-0 lead immediately, Serena knocks off an easy forehand volley to reel off eight consecutive games, concluding the lop-sided match 6-3 6-0. Serena has now 3 consecutive titles at the year-end championships, adding yet another highlight to her career
Presenting the runners-up and Billie Jean King trophies were tennis legends, Chris Evert and Billie Jean King. Simona thanked the crowd for their amazing encouragement, and said it has been a good week for her. Serena also agreed that the crowd has been wonderful, and she’s looking forward to coming back for the next four years.
What an amazing week @WTAFinalsSG Thanks Singapore,I just loved being here and I already feel home @yoursingapore!See you again in December!
— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) October 26, 2014
The prestigious event has been attended by more than 100,000 fans throughout the 10 day festival, having sold out for four sessions. It has been a hectic week for me, but I’ve enjoyed every moment of it. Being so near to the tennis stars is a dream come true and I’m very grateful to SUPERADRIANME.com for this opportunity.
Overall, the event could be better organized but it is their first year after all. Hopefully the organisers will learn from their mistakes this year and make next year’s event even better.
Most important of all, I hope this event incites interest in tennis as a sport, and for Sports Singapore to place more emphasis on developing tennis players.
Thank you and remember, every tennis game starts with love-all!
About the writerAs an avid tennis fan, Sean Long keeps up to date with the happenings of the world of tennis. He lives and breathes tennis and also plays the sport. Aside from tennis, Sean maintains his health by sweating it out at the gym and enjoys food and travel.
