WTA Finals Preview: What’s in store for the Elite Eight in Singapore?

So far the big news from the WTA Finals is who won't be there: Serena Williams. To those in the know, this was hardly a shock; Serena has only made it to the tour's season-ender nine times in her two-decade career. The bigger, and better, story from Singapore is that the WTA has come with reinforcements. Fans will get to see a few of them—including two possible future stars, Madison Keys and Karolina Pliskova—make their Finals debuts over the next week. Here’s a look at what’s at stake, and what may be in store, for the Elite Eight.

Angelique Kerber
2016 record: 59-17; WTA Finals record: 2-7; record vs. rest of group: 12-9

The 28-year-old German has had a career year and then some, but she’ll face a different kind of pressure in Singapore. With Serena in absentia, the tour’s new No. 1 will be the face of the women’s game this week. How well she handles her elevated status will give us a preview of what her 2017 might be like. Judging by Kerber’s record in WTA Finals, it will be a struggle: She’s just 2-7 at the event, and her draw won’t make turning that around any easier: she’s 3-4 against Halep and 4-4 against Cibulkova. The WTA’s Player of the Year has been stepping up to new challenges throughout 2016; can she do it one more time?

Simona Halep
2016 record: 44-16; WTA Finals record: 4-4; record vs. rest of group: 10-7

Halep has spent the second half of the year knocking on the door; is this the week when she’s finally gets in? By most measures, the Romanian has had a strong season; she’s won the same number of titles (three) as Kerber. But she hasn’t quite gotten over the hump at the majors, where her best results were quarterfinal appearances at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Can this undersized player finish big? In 2014, she beat Serena and reached the final in Singapore. Doing the same, or going a step farther, this time could set her up for her own run at the No. 1 ranking in 2017.

Madison Keys
2016 record: 46-15; WTA Finals record: 0-0; record vs. rest of group: 5-9

Off the court, it has been a chaotic season for Keys, who rode her own personal coaching carousel through the first half of 2016 before settling in with the experienced hand of Thomas Hogstedt. On court, though, it has been a year of near-metronomic consistency for the American, who lost in the round of 16 at all four majors. The 21-year-old has been rewarded for her persistence with a Top 10 ranking and her first trip to the WTA Finals—that’s a sign of real progress. Now for the next step: Learning to beat the top competition. Keys is 1-4 against Halep and 1-5 against Kerber. Whatever happens, this will be a valuable experience, and should help Keys believe she belongs among the elite.

Dominika Cibulkova
2016 record: 50-19; WTA Finals record: 0-0; record vs. rest of group: 17-20

Are you wondering what Domi’s doing here? If so, you haven’t been paying close enough attention in 2016. The 27-year-old Slovakian has quietly put together the best overall season of her career, in which she went 50-19 with three titles. While she’s the lowest-ranked player in her group, she shouldn’t have any trouble hanging with the competition: She’s 3-2 vs. Halep and 4-4 vs. Kerber. And while she’s 0-3 against Keys, Domi seems like the type of player who could spring a surprise or two this week. We know she’ll give it her best shot.

Agnieszka Radwanska
2016 record: 51-16; WTA Finals record: 9-12; record vs. rest of group: 13-16

While Kerber is the top seed, Radwanska might be the favorite in Singapore. She won this event last year, and she’s coming in, as she so often does, with momentum from a strong Asian swing. Like Cibulkova, Radwanska has had a quietly excellent season, winning three titles—including the recent Premier Mandatory in Beijing—and reaching the Australian Open semifinals. While she'll be favored to reach the semis here as well, Aga wasn't helped by Kuznetsova's late qualification on Saturday. Radwanska is a surprisingly poor 4-12 vs. Sveta for her career.

Karolina Pliskova
2016 record: 42-20; WTA Finals record: 0-0l record vs. rest of group: 4-7

The 24-year-old Czech is another player who is making her Singapore debut this year. Like Keys, she’s also a famously erratic player who began to make good on her massive potential in 2016. Pliskova won a lot of fans over at the U.S. Open with her stone-cold power game, which helped her to wins over both Serena and Venus Williams. But the question remains whether she can make her low-percentage, high-reward style work for her on a regular basis. Pliskova is 3-1 against Muguruza, and 0-6 against Radwanska.

Garbiñe Muguruza
2016 record: 34-18; WTA Finals record: 3-1; record vs. rest of group: 6-7

Last year at this time, Muguruza was riding a late-season wave of momentum, one that led her into the Top 5 and, eventually, to a French Open title. This year, the Spaniard is treading water. After embarrassingly early exits at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, she seemed to stabilize this month in Beijing and Linz, where she won two rounds at each event. Can Muguruza gain a little confidence back going into 2017? Or should she just starting thinking about next year now? She’s 1-3 against Pliskova, but she has 4-3 record against Radwanska.

Svetlana Kuznetsova
2016 record: 41-20; WTA Finals record: 3-12; record vs. rest of group: 13-5

Kuznetsova is the event's big question mark, for a couple of reasons. First, she just qualified for the tournament with a title in Moscow over the weekend; whether that will leave her drained or energized when she gets to Singapore is anybody's guess. Second, Kuznetsova has been almost as good versus her opponents in this group as she has been bad at the WTA Finals; she's 13-5 vs. her round-robin opposition, but just 3-12 in the season-ender for her career. Once Sveta gets a little momentum going, though, she tends to keep it going.

Semifinals: Halep d. Kuznetsova; Kerber d. Radwanska

Final: Halep d. Kerber