Lackluster WTA Finals? Only one Grand Slam winner at the start
The race to the WTA Finals usually never lies. This year, however, small doubts are appropriate. But the fact is: With Iga Swiatek , there will only be one single player in Fort Worth who already has a major win to her credit. This has never happened before in history.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Oct 23, 2022, 01:56 pm
Elena Rybakina has had a surprisingly mediocre season. No, of course that's not true. Rybakina, who was born in Russia and has been playing for Kazakhstan for a few years, was finally able to hold up the winner's trophy at Wimbledon. A success that will outshine her entire tennis life. Rightly. And if world ranking points had been distributed in Wimbledon, Elena Rybakina would also be among the eight best of the year, who will play out the last major individual title in Fort Worth in a few days.
The subjunctive is appropriate. Because Rybakina is out, she will be missing in Texas. The annual report only shows the Wimbledon champion in 21st place. That's one too few. For the men, Novak Djokovic has avoided the same fate. Yes, if the 35-year-old Serb continues like he did in Tel Aviv and Astana, he could be very close to the top of the world rankings again by the end of the year.
Swiatek only major winner
But back to Rybakina: Due to her absence, for the first time in the 50-year history of the event, only one player is represented at the WTA Finals in Fort Worth who has already won a Grand Slam tournament: Iga Swiatek. The last place was decided between Veronika Kudermetova and Maria Sakkari in Guadalajara on Friday, the Greek had the better end for herself. But neither the Russian nor Sakkari have been able to win a major title so far. Neither does Aryna Sabalenka, Jessica Pegula, Cori Gauff, Caroline Garcia and Daria Kasatkina.
The pool for women would be particularly large. Just think about who, in addition to Ashleigh Barty, who retired at the beginning of 2022, has all received Grand Slam honors in singles in recent years: Jelena Ostapenko, Bianca Andreescu, Sofia Kenin, Garbine Muguruza, Petra Kvitova, Angelique Kerber three times (although Kerber was not an issue for the finals due to other circumstances), of course Naomi Osaka, or Barbora Krejcikova. After all, the latter made it to Guadalajara in doubles with partner Katerina Siniakova.