The Final Four of the WTA have been decided. The women ranked from #1 to #4 have made the semi finals. Agnieszka Radwanska took three hours to defeat a game Sara Errani.
With her win against Li Na in the last match of Round Robin play Victoria Azarenka clinched the year end Top Ranking and everything that goes with it.
Like Azarenka Maria Sharapova disposed of Samantha Stosur in straight sets.
Serena Williams, the only woman to play three straight days clinched her group and had Friday off. She made it through without dropping a set.
The semi final matchups will feature Serena Williams vs. Agnieszka Radwanska followed by Maria Sharapova vs. Victoria Azarenka.
There are some arguing that because these four women made it to the semi's the WTA product is validated and vindicated. Others argue that a field that there were players in the Final 8 that left you shaking your head.
I'll leave that discussion for a post championship evaluation.
The best thing about this YEC is the crowd. For the second year in a row the fans of Istanbul have shown that they are ready, willing and very able to support major tennis events. They are much more informed than the highly touted and much courted Asian fans who at times seem to not have a clue.
I mention this because there is talk of the WTA taking the YEC back to Doha. As one wag said on Twitter Doha is where matches are attended by a couple of guys and their camels. Shanghai is also being talked about but again the fan support is just not there.
I understand that the bottom line is what TPTB in tennis go by but with the WTA under attack for riding the coat tails of the WTA when it comes to paying players while fielding a product that few fans support I hope that someone decides that the fan support in Istanbul accounts for something. So far they're the most enthusiastic WTA fans on the planet.
No comments:
Post a Comment