Athletistic/Tennis. The 2022 season will end with the WTA Finals, where the best players of the year will compete from October 31 to November 7. The tournament will be held in Fort Worth, Texas, and will return to the United States 17 years later. .
Four out of eight female tennis players will make their debut in the WTA Finals. Ons Jaber, Koko Gauff, Jessica Pegula and Daria Kasatkina were among the contenders for a year-end championship entry for the first time. Jabeur missed out on a place in the final last season when Anette Kontaveit overtook her at the end of the year.
Gauff and Pegula also qualified in doubles. Iga Šwiętek, Arina Sobolenko and Maria Sakkari are facing each other for the second time in a row, while Caroline Garcia has already played in the final tournament in 2017.
With the best players of the season gathered in one place, there are bound to be many exciting matches. Here’s a look at how the draw could play out next week.
Tracey Austin Group:
Players: (1) Iga Swiatek, (4) Coco Gauff, (6) Caroline Garcia and (8) Daria Kasatkina.
World No. 1 Iga Šwiętek is a tough player to beat and it can be assumed that she will at least make it out of the group stage. She is the only Grand Slam champion competing this year. The Pole has won eight trophies so far, including a few major titles, and will be looking to end his brilliant season on a high.
Šwiętek leads 9-2 in head-to-head matches against his teammates. She didn’t lose to Coco Gauff, she beat Daria Kasatkina 4-1 and only with Caroline Garcia she got 1:1. It is expected that, given its shape, the world’s number one racquet will lead the pack.
The other three tennis players will fight for second place. Garcia enjoyed a streak of success from June until the end of the US Open in September when he won three titles. After losing the semi-finals in New York, she only managed to win one match in three tournaments.
Garcia is inferior to Gauff with a score of 1:2 in personal meetings, and with Kasatkina and Shventek she has 1:1. The current form of the Frenchwoman does not promise her great chances here.
Kasatkina has been steady for most of the season, but after winning the title at the Granby Championships in Quebec, she fell on hard times.
Since then, she has lost in the first round of the US Open and has not won two matches in a row. The Russians have bad statistics against Shventek – 1:4, but he leads in matches with Gauff with the score 2:0. She will have to raise her level of play to get out of the group.
All things considered, it looks like Gauff will likely reach the semis with Swiatek from this group. The teenager was a beacon of stability ahead of the WTA Finals. In addition to being knocked out of the first round due to a mid-match retirement, she has reached the quarter-finals of every tournament she has entered since August.
Gauff is the only tennis player in this group not to have won a title this year. And she only has two wins in total. But at the same time it is very stable. Koko has reached the quarter-finals of every tournament she has entered since August.
Nancy Ritchie Group:
Players: (2) Ons Jaber, (3) Jessica Pegula, (5) Maria Sakkari and (7) Arina Sobolenko.
Ons Jabeur came close to winning the major title twice this year, but finished runners-up at Wimbledon and the US Open. However, it has been a wonderful season for the Tunisian as she continues to reach new heights. She won titles in Madrid and Berlin and placed second in the standings.
Since losing the US Open, Jabeur has only appeared in one tournament, which was in her native Tunisia. She lost in the quarterfinals to Claire Liu. She wins in personal matches against Maria Sakkari (2:1) and Jessica Pegula (3:2), but she is inferior to Arina Sobolenko (1:2).
The gill was fairly stable, but was known to falter at times of pressure. Going up against the best in tournaments like the WTA Finals can piss her off, but if she can keep her cool, she’s got every chance of breaking out of the group.
Pegula has come a long way to the top. She won the biggest title of her career at the Guadalajara Open ahead of the WTA Finals. The American has often reached the last stages of major tournaments and seems ready to do it again.
Pegula is losing to everyone in his one-on-one group, but his victory in Guadalajara might give him enough confidence to succeed here.
Sakkari was the last tennis player to qualify for the WTA Finals. She was expected to perform well in Guadalajara, which she eventually did.
After a strong start to the season, the Greek was on the losing side for several months before regaining form recently. If Sakkari can keep up the momentum, she should be able to compete for promotion from the group. Maria was a semi-finalist in the WTA Finals last year, but given her controversial results, the chances of her repeating the feat seem slim.
Sobolenko’s season has been like a roller coaster, with lots of ups and downs. This year, she has not won any titles, although she has reached a few finals. Since losing the US Open semi-finals, she has only competed in two events. The Belarusian reached the quarter-finals in San Diego, but lost in the first round in Guadalajara.
Sobolenko was lucky to some extent with the draw, as she beat every tennis player in her group in one-on-one matches. If she returns to her best game, she has a good chance of qualifying from the group.
Vyacheslav Gorbachev/Athletistic
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