From Seoul, South Korea, November 2018

안녕 folks and welcome to the summary of the last major tennis event of the year!

Elina Svitolina, the last champion of Singapore

WTA Finals Singapore. It was the last edition played in Singapore. Starting next year, the finals are moving to Shenzen, China. I must say that this tournament was full of great matches, I have never seen so many quality matches concetrated in only one week. My favorite, Kiki Bertens played excellent and managed to get out of the groups. So proud of her!

The 2018 finals featured five major champions and one finalist. The competitors were divided into two groups, representing the colors of the flag of Singapore.  Following there is a table with the final standings of the two groups. Stephens and Svitolina were unbeaten in the group stage, which kind of predicted who will be in the finals. However, it was harder than everybody had thought.

In the semifinals Svitolina met Bertens and she needed 3 sets to be able to defeat the Dutch, and reach her first final at this tournament. Stephens didn't have an easy match either with Pliskova. She lost the first set 0 to 6, and everybody thought she is was out of the competition. But the Roland Garros runner-up showed why she deserves to be among the best of best. She crushed Pliskova in the following two sets, and reached the final of her first Singapore tournament. 

For the first time since the current round robin format was reintroduced in 2003, the first two matches played in each group were all won by the lower-ranked player. It also the first time that the top four seeds were eliminated in the round robin stage (group stage), leaving the fifth to eighth seeds to qualify for the semifinals.

SEEDS 

In paranthesis -  the stage the player left the competition

GROUP STAGE 

SEMIFINALS

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THE FINAL

It was the first WTA final for both players, with Svitolina at her third participation and Stephens at her first. Svitolina lost the first set, but managed to comeback and become the first player of her country who lifts the Billie Jean trophy.

FINAL HIGHLIGHTS (VIDEO) 

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wtatennis.com

wikipedia.com