Ringing in Singapore

Does it seem a little early for the women to be playing their final event of 2014? Only in tennis could a season that begins on January 1 and ends in late October seem oddly short. Either way, the WTA is set to put on its most lucrative event of the year, the eight-player, year-ending, freshly renamed WTA Finals.

The tour has also chosen a new location this year, in Singapore. We know that Asia is where tennis wants to go, but moving the tournament out of Istanbul, its location for the last three years, is something of a risk. The Turkish crowds were the best the event has ever had.

The parties have been thrown, the dresses have been shown, the photos have been snapped, and the draws have been made. On Monday the women begin playing for $6.5 million in prize money. Here’s a look ahead at the tournament’s two groups of four, and what we may see from them. It’s a time to savor for fans: Now that the cream has risen to the top, we get to take a week and watch them face off against each other.

Ranking: No. 1
2014 Record: 48-7
Head-to-head record vs. Red Group: 11-1
WTA Finals Record: 25-5 (4-time winner)

What’s on the line?

Serena’s No. 1 ranking, which she has held for two years, is technically up for grabs. She’s roughly 500 points ahead of No. 2 Maria Sharapova, and 1500 points go to the winner in Singapore. Serena has been hurt, and there was speculation that she might miss the tournament, which wasn’t uncommon for her at year-enders in the past. Even last season, when she won it, she was exhausted by the finish. We’ll see what she brings this time. If Serena is healthy, history says she should be fine. She’s 49-4 for her career against the other seven players in the draw, and she’ll be going up against two WTA Finals rookies in her group.

Ranking: No. 3
2014 Record: 43-14
Head-to-head record vs. Red Group: 3-5
WTA Finals Record: 0-0

What’s on the line?

First, in 2013, Halep proved she could win tournaments and fly up the rankings. Then, in 2014, she proved she could go deep at the majors, reaching the final of the French Open and the semis at Wimbledon. What’s left? Proving she can beat the best. So far, the 23-year-old is 8-15 against the other players in Singapore.

Ranking: No. 7
2014 Record: 45-20
Head-to-head record vs. Red Group: 3-2
WTA Finals Record: 0-0

What’s on the line?

Similarly to Halep, Bouchard spent 2013 moving up the rankings, and 2014 going deep at the Slams. But the 20-year-old doesn’t have a lot of experience yet playing her Top 10 colleagues—she’s just 4-9 against the other women in this tournament, and the best-known of those matches was the 6-3, 6-0 pummeling she took from Petra Kvitova in the Wimbledon final. Can Bouchard handle the big hitters? She’ll get another chance to prove herself here.

Ranking: No. 8
2014 Record: 56-16
Head-to-head record vs. Red Group: 2-11
WTA Finals Record: 2-4

What’s on the line?

In one sense, a trip to Singapore is a moment to relish for Ivanovic: She hasn’t qualified for the Finals in six years. Getting back there a couple weeks before her 27th birthday is an accomplishment worth celebrating, as are her four titles this year. So why does her success and Top 10 status still seem a little perilous, something that could evaporate over the course of a couple of weeks? Ivanovic is a confidence player; she doesn’t want to go into 2015 with the memory of a bad finish to an otherwise excellent season. Looking at her record against the other players in her group—2-11—that’s a distinct possibility.

Ranking: No. 2
2014 Record: 48-11
Head-to-Head Record vs. White Group: 21-7
WTA Finals Record: 17-8 (2004 champion)

What’s on the line?

Is it surprising to find out that Sharapova has a chance to pass Serena and finish a season No. 1 for the first time in her 12-year career? I guess it shouldn’t be: Maria has won four titles, including a major, the French Open, and a Mandatory, in Beijing. While it hasn’t been perfect, this has to go down as one of her most satisfying campaigns, considering that she started it with a shoulder issue and a new coaching crew. Now, of all the players in Singapore, she sounds the most eager, and her 21-7 record against her fellow group members is a promising one.

Ranking: No. 4
2014 Record: 40-14
Head-to-Head Record vs. White Group: 11-11
WTA Finals Record: 7-3 (2011 champion)

What’s on the line?

The year-end championships should be Kvitova’s kind of event: She’s one player who can, whatever her overall

record might be, beat anyone on a given day. And she ran through the field to win the title in Istanbul in 2011 with a 5-0 record. But the stat to keep in mind is her H2H against her group: Kvitova is 11-11—she can beat anyone, and she can lose to anyone. Still, I think you have to like her chances based on her recent form, and her power advantage over Radwanska and Wozniacki. I would dare to say that a title here could lead to bigger things next year, but that’s not how it worked out in 2012.

Ranking: No. 6
2014 Record: 46-19
Head-to-Head Record vs. White Group: 7-21
WTA Finals Record: 5-7

What’s on the line?

This seems to me to be an important time for Aga. She’s 25 now, and she has been to the mountaintop and come tumbling down it a couple times already. What will the next stage of her career bring? Is she entering her prime, or have we seen all of the tricks that this magician has tucked under her Kinesio tape? As the lineup in Singapore shows, there are new, younger women ready to push her farther down the rankings. And as her 7-21 record against her fellow group members shows, she’s got some work to do against her peers at the top.

Ranking: No. 9
2014 Record: 46-18
Head-to-Head Record vs. White Group: 13-13
WTA Finals Record: 6-6

What’s on the line?

Like Ivanovic, Wozniacki is a former No. 1 who found some of her old form in 2014, and, with a little help from a missing Li Na, has been rewarded with a return trip to the Finals. While Caro is primarily a wallboard, she’s had more success against the heavy hitters than her friend in finesse, Radwanska. Wozniacki beat Sharapova at the U.S. Open, and owns a surprisingly respectable 4-4 career record against Kvitova. It’s been a roller-coaster year for Wozniacki, but she’ll give it whatever she has left.

Semifinals: Kvitova d. S. Williams; Sharapova d. Halep

Final: Kvitova d. Sharapova