Slinging in Singapore

The eight-woman field is set for the WTA Finals in Singapore, and not a day too soon: The tournament starts on Sunday. But the 2015 year-ender is just as notable for who won’t be there: Three-time defending champion Serena Williams, who shut her season down early to heal the aches and pains that came with trying for the calendar-year Grand Slam. That will dim the star power in Singapore considerably, but there will still be plenty to watch from the next-best-eight. Fans know that while the WTA Finals tries to sell the spectacle, it's the matches that matter. Tennis takes center stage, and some of the season’s most compelling competition typically happens this week. Here’s a quick look at the tournament’s two round-robin groups, and what’s lies ahead in each.

Simona Halep
Seed: No. 1; Head to head vs. group: 5-13; WTA Finals record: 3-2 (2014 finalist)

That seeding (No. 1) and head to head (5-13) don’t go together, do they? And that’s why this tournament is so important for the world No. 2. She has the sky-high ranking, and she’s won plenty of events, but she’s been far from dominant against the world’s best; for example, Halep has yet to beat Sharapova in five tries. This will also be the biggest event that Halep has been expected to win. That’s another level of pressure for a woman who admits that she hasn’t always handled it well. Seeing how she reacts to it this week will be interesting, and could tell us a lot about her future Grand Slam prospects. The upside is that Halep reacted well in Singapore last year, reaching the final and recording her only win over Serena along the way.

Maria Sharapova
Seed: No. 3; Head to head vs. group: 19-5; WTA Finals record: 18-10 (2004 champion)

If it will be interesting to see how Halep handles the expectations, it will be almost as interesting just to see how Sharapova looks on a tennis court again. Injuries have limited her to one match since Wimbledon, and she had to retire midway through that one. Yet somehow she’s still the third seed, and despite the rust, the 2004 champ comes in with by far the best head-to-head against the rest of her group. That includes a 5-0 mark over Halep.

Agnieszka Radwanska
Seed: No. 5; Head to head vs. group: 11-19; WTA Finals record: 6-10

This is Aga’s seventh appearance in the year-ender, yet it’s something of a miracle that she’s here; as of June, she seemed to be in full collapse. But she has righted the ship since then—a semifinal run at Wimbledon helped—and proved that, even as she heads into the latter half of her 20s, her finesse game is still effective. Despite a 6-10 record at this event, she has reached the semis twice, including last year on these courts. And while Radwanska is just 2-12 against Sharapova, she’s 4-4 versus Halep.

Flavia Pennetta
Seed: No. 7; Head to head vs. group: 10-8; Finals record: 0-0

In a bittersweet twist, Pennetta’s first WTA Finals appearance will also be the last tournament of her career. The 33-year-old will retire when it’s over. But while she’s a rookie here, she knows these opponents well and, as her surprisingly strong 10-8 record shows, she has played them tough. Win or lose, we’ll get at least three more chances to see Flavia's regal walk and silkily lethal backhand. That's reason enough to tune in.

Semifinalist: Halep, Pennetta

Garbiñe Muguruza
Seed: No. 2; Head to head vs. group: 3-4; Finals record: 0-0

The Spaniard makes her WTA Finals debut in style, as the second seed, and the top player in the White Group. Is it too much too soon for the 22-year-old? Perhaps—while Muguruza made the Wimbledon final, she didn’t really find her groove until October, when she won the Premier Mandatory in Beijing (her only title of 2015) and reached the final in Wuhan. All of which makes Muguruza’s performance here, like Halep’s, an intriguing one. Can she set herself up as the favorite to be the next first-time Grand Slam winner? In particular, her meeting with fellow slugger Petra Kvitova, which will be their first, is one to watch.

Petra Kvitova
Seed: No. 4; Head to head vs. group: 11-2; WTA Finals record: 8-5 (2011 champion)

Kvitova knows all about trying to use the WTA Finals as a launching pad. The last time Serena wasn’t here, in 2011, she won the event and nearly finished the year No. 1. While she couldn’t follow up on that success, her 5-0 run that year showed again just how good she can be. Her head to head against her three opponents here—11-2—shows the same thing. With Serena out, the winners and the errors will again be on Kvitova’s racquet. She hasn’t done much this fall, but power players have traditionally fared well in the Finals.

Angelique Kerber
Seed: No. 6; Head to head vs. group: 6-8; WTA Finals record: 1-5

Kerber’s seeding and record in this tournament are deceptive. The German didn’t do much at the big events this year, but she did win four tournaments on different surfaces. And while she has just one win in her two appearances at the Finals, she has given fans more than their share of entertainment at these events. Nobody, match-wise, is better value, and you have to figure she has at least one more knock-down, drag-out classic in her in 2015.

Lucie Safarova
Seed: No. 8; Head to head record vs. group: 2-8; WTA Finals record: 0-0

Safarova is the third rookie at this year’s event, and the last player to make it in. For some fans, she may also seem like a blast from the recent past. After reaching her first Grand Slam final, at the French Open, the Czech has mostly fallen back under the radar; she lost in the first round at the U.S. Open and has hardly played since. But while Safarova is 0-7 against her countrywoman Kvitova, she has held her own in her few meetings with Kerber and Muguruza.

Semifinalists: Kvitova, Kerber

Semifinals: Halep d. Kerber; Pennetta d. Kvitova

Final: Halep d. Pennetta