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SINGAPORE – Marie Sharapova says that if she manages to play three matches of the Red Group at the WTA Finals at Singapore, she will be happy, especially if she plays reasonably well. The five-time Grand Slam champion has played once since Wimbledon, due to various injuries, and clearly, she has been frustrated. But, the 28-year-old has been around for a long time and she knows that if she can be patient, she will eventually find her way back to top form. If she does, she will shake the rust off and go for her massive shots.
Sharapova has always been a force against Aga Radwanska, whom she will face on Sunday night. However, the Pole is very creative and she has been playing substantially better since the first half of the year, when she was very frustrated. She was pushing the ball frequently, wasn’t going for the lines and wasn’t attacking the net often enough. But, during on the grass season, she figured out what ailed her, mixed her shots, moved forward when she could and, over the past three months, she has rediscovered her shots.
As Radwanska said, she just didn’t want to fold her tent. The former No. 2 wanted to find a way to be back at the WTA Finals once again, and she did. Radwanska knows that she has legitimate shot to upend Sharapova, but even though the Russian will be a little wary given that she won’t be very confident. If the Pole plays very well for at least the first hour, ‘Aga’ will have to jump on her second serves quite a bit.
Back in February at the Fed Cup in Poland, Sharapova just blew Radwanska apart. This time, Radwanska cannot hesitate and must be aggressive. Sharapova is very pleased that her body is feeling much better now, but Radwanska has been playing seemingly every weekend and should grab it in three sets.
Simona Halep will go up against Flavia Pennetta on the first day in the afternoon on Sunday. Halep may not be 100 percent with her sore left ankle, but as she says she is ready to push as hard as she can as it’s the last week of the season. The Romanian played incredibly well in 2014, when she reached the final here at the WTA Finals. She stunned Serena Williams in their first match. But, in the final, the American was then locked in and beat her pants off.
Outside of the majors, on clay and on grass (which were pretty miserable), Halep was substantially better on the hard courts, except when facing Serena, who isn’t playing this tournament. She is so fast; she can zoom up and back and side-to-side, and she can rip both her forehand and backhand. Mentally, if she is in the right space, she can win this tournament. However, she can get angry and frustrated, which is why she can fall off against Pennetta.
The Italian played wonderfully winning the US Open, including when she blitzed Halep in the semifinal. Halep was the favorite, but she folded while Pennetta kept smoking the ball, very deep and true.
In a sense, Pennetta is just happy to be here in Singapore. She will retire after this week. She is as happy as she has ever been. While she will try hard, she isn’t going to go up over the wall and back down again. She just wants to have a great time, and doesn’t want to collapse after battling for three-plus hours. She won’t be nervous at all, while Halep will. It’s really up to the world No. 2 to win or lose, but if Halep gets frustrated early, Pennetta can dance around the court if she out-schools her.
Halep said that she and her coach, Darren Cahill, have yet to decide whether they will continue next year. Cahill knows his stuff inside and out. If Halep is very smart, she should give him a full year and realize how much she can improve.
Speaking of which, Garbine Muguruza said on Saturday that she and her new coach, Sam Sumyk, will continue in 2016. In the White Group, she will face Lucie Safarova on Monday.
Two lefties Petra Kvitova and Angie Kerber will face off on Monday.
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