Dubai: Singapore will be the ninth city, and first in Asia, to play host to the year-ending WTA Championships. Agreed, it may be a bit too early in the season to think about a season-ending competition. But historically, any player who has had a strong start to the year has gone on to qualify to the prestigious marquee event on the Women’s Tour.
Hence, whether the players do it consciously or not, there will be an added significance attached to the “Road to Singapore” where the top eight singles players and top eight doubles teams battle to be crowned the year-end champions.
Founded by Billie Jean King in 1973, the WTA recognised four decades of growth and achievement with a season-long campaign named 40 LOVE last year. The year-long campaign showcased the pioneers of the game and the current stars.
Undoubtedly, one of the great stars of this era has been Serena Williams and her older sister Venus. Dubai will be keen to see the two Williams in action, especially after Serena famously pulled out before her second round match against Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli last year.
Perhaps, the younger of the Williams sisters best celebrated the growth of the tour in 2013 with a record-setting season; She won eleven titles (the most since 1997), had a match win percentage of 0.951 (best since 1999), won nearly $12.5 million (Dh45.91 million) in prize money (third highest in tennis history, men or women), had 74 match wins and the longest match-winning streak since 2000 with a run of 34 wins.
While we can never say enough on such a fantastic athlete, it is the likes of Agnieszka Radwanska, defending Dubai champion Petra Kvitova, Australian Open champion Li Na and Sara Errani who are always waiting on the sidelines to give top players such as Serena a fight, whenever the opportunity comes along.
With Serena as the backdrop, neither the fame nor the figures favour the young guns. Among career titles, Radwanska has 13, Kvitova has eleven and Errani has seven for a total of 31, compared to the 58 singles and 22 doubles crowns of Serena. Then the contrast in earnings: Serena has more than $54.5 million compared to a total of $34.82 million of Errani, Kvitova and Radwanska.
The year gone by was also significant for the emergence of Generation Next with 16 players born in 1993 or later finishing in the year-end Top-100, including eight in the Top-50.
Eugenie Bouchard, who revelled at last month’s Australian Open was by far the most impressive during 2013 after reaching quarter-finals or better at five of her 17 main draw events during the season. She was rightly voted the “Newcomer of the Year” by international tennis media and her presence here in Dubai will definitely add lustre to this tournament.
Granted, fans and spectators may not look as graciously on the women’s game — not as much as they would venerate the men’s tour. But, one can be assured that there will be plenty on offer at the Dubai Duty Free-owned and organised women’s event this week. It will be just the aperitif before the start of the men’s competition.
