The WTA doubles team take centre court as the draw ceremony was conducted at the Skating Rink by the Shoppes in Marina Bay Sands. Martina Navratilova was there to unveil the doubles trophy named after her. The tennis legend got emotional when she revealed the trophy, tearing up when she stated that her mother would have liked it.
The future of WTA battled it out in the Rising Stars final, with Monica Puig taking on Zheng Saisai. The hard hitting Puig took command of the points, moving Zheng around with her well-struck ground strokes. Even though Zheng tried to mix things up with her slices, she was eventually overpowered by the Puerto Rican 6-4 6-3. Monica is emotional about the win, crying tears of joy during the prize ceremony.
The white group begin their round robin matches with the reigning Roland Garros champion Maria Sharapova, taking on the U.S. Open finalist Caroline Wozniacki. A contrast in game styles, the duo went back and forth with high quality rallies. The audience was at the edge of their seats, entertained by the nerve-wrecking show that these 2 ladies are putting on. After splitting the first two sets in tiebreaks, errors crept into Sharapova’s game and gave Wozniacki a well-deserved 7-6(4) 6-7(5) 6-2 win. The 3 hour and 13 minutes battle is definitely the match of the tournament so far, and a contender for match of the year.
It’s a tough task for Petra Kvitova and Agnieszka Radwanska to keep the same level of play after the spectators witnessed such a match of epic proportions. Sure enough, the errors flowed freely from the Czech’s racquet. Radwanska was patient, waiting for Kvitova’s wild mistakes, occasionally using her wily trick shots to frustrate Petra. Kvitova tried to hit her way out of trouble, but hit one error too many as she slumped to a straight set defeat, 6-4 6-3.
Doubles action starts tomorrow, with the top 8 teams battling it out in a knock-out tournament format. Also, Serena Williams will seek to continue her dominance of the WTA against the fleet footed Simona Halep. While Ana Ivanovic and Eugenie Bouchard will be looking for redemption after losing their first round matches. Tickets are selling fast so grab one while they last!
About the writerAs an avid tennis fan, Sean Long keeps up to date with the happenings of the world of tennis. He lives and breathes tennis and also plays the sport. Aside from tennis, Sean maintains his health by sweating it out at the gym and enjoys food and travel.
