With Naomi Osaka out of the tournament, and alternate Kiki Bertens defeating world No.1 Ash Barty, all four active players in the Red Group still have a chance to qualify for the semifinals.
Thursday at the WTA Finals could be a nail-biter. There are a possible six scenarios in which each player could progress to the semi-finals of the tournament. Ranging from two straight forward wins to places being worked out by the highest percentage of games won this week. Here is a break down of the qualification scenarios :-
- If Barty and Bencic both win, they both qualify.
- If Barty and Bertens both win, they both qualify.
- If Bencic and Kvitova both win, they both qualify.
- If Kvitova wins (in two or three sets) and Bertens wins in straight sets, they both qualify.
- If Kvitova wins in two sets and Bertens wins in three sets, they both qualify.
- If Kvitova wins in three sets and Bertens wins in three sets, Bertens qualifies, and the other qualifier would be the player with the highest percentage of games won this week, as in this case Barty, Kvitova, and Bencic would all be 1-2 with the same number of sets won and lost.
Ash Barty (1) vs. Petra Kvitova (6)
This will be the fifth time these two play each other this year, and they’ve had some stellar battles. Kvitova prevailed in a third set tiebreak in the Sydney final, and also eliminated Barty from the Australian Open. But Ash took their last two meetings, in Miami in March as well as just a few weeks ago in Beijing. Three of those four matches, all played on hard courts, went the distance. Kvitova won their other two matches from previous years, neither of which were decided on hard courts. For the second straight year, Kvitova has followed up a great first half of the season with an unimpressive second half. Since July, she’s just 9-6, and is 0-2 this week in Shenzhen. Barty meanwhile has already secured the year-end No.1 ranking thanks to great play throughout the year, yet is coming off a defeat at the hands of Bertens two days ago. But based on recent form, and the recent results between these two, the Australian should be favored to win and advance. And these slow-playing courts in Shenzhen do Kvitova no favors.
Belinda Bencic (7) vs. Kiki Bertens (Alt)
The alternate has a good shot at qualifying, and can guarantee her advancement with a win today. Bertens is 3-0 against Bencic, with all three wins coming within the past three years. And she must be feeling confident coming off her upset of Barty on Tuesday. Though Bencic also has some momentum after overcoming Kvitova in three sets two days ago. But Bertens has proven she likes facing Bencic, and Kiki should feel as if she has nothing to lose as the alternate. With less pressure weighing on her, I like Bertens’ chance to win and advance to the semifinals at this event for the second straight year.
