From Seoul, South Korea, October 2018

1. KREMLIN CUP, MOSCOW, RUSSIA

ABOUT

The 2018 Kremlin Cup (also known as the 2018 VTB Kremlin Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is the 29th edition of the Kremlin Cup for the men and the 23nd edition for the women. The tournament is part of the ATP World Tour 250 Series of the 2018 ATP World Tour, and of the Premier Series of the 2018 WTA Tour. It is held at the Olympic Stadium in Moscow, Russia, from 15 October through 21 October 2018.

POINTS

Winner - 470 / Runner-up - 305 / Semifinalists - 185 / Quarter-finalists - 100 /

Round of 16 - 55 / Round of 32 - 1

SEEDS

Kiki Bertens and Karolina Pliskova are fighting for a place in the Singapore Finals. See a live ranking of the players at the end of this post. Unfortunately Simona Halep announced that she is withdrawing from the Kremlin Cup, as her lower back issues continue to bother her. 

FINALISTS

Daria Kasatkina (Russia) defeated Ons Jabeur (Tunisia), score 2-6, 7(7)-6(3), 6-4. She lost the first set and when she was almost losing the second one too, with Jabeur leading 4 to 1, her coach came on court and told her that she has to go, serve and if it has to lose, to lose like a champion. Coaching was effective, Daria came back and pushed the set in tiebreak.  And then, she played extraoridarily in the third set, with the fans on her side, cheering at every point. Jabeur's leg injury may have helped, but in the end Daria ended it like a champon. Congratulations!

 WINNER 

Daria Kasatkina (Russia)

FINAL HIGHLIGHTS

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2017 WINNER: Julia Gorges (Germany, left) defeated Daria Kasatkina (Russia)

2017 WINNER: Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia, right) defeated Daria Gavrilova (Australia)

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2013 WINNER: Simona Halep (Romania, right) defeated Samantha Stosur (Australia)

2. LUXEMBOURG OPEN

ABOUT

The 2018 BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open is a women's tennis tournament to be played on indoor hard courts sponsored by BNP Paribas. It is the 28th edition of the Luxembourg Open, and part of the WTA International tournaments category of the 2018 WTA Tour. It is being held in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg from 15 to 20 October 2018.

POINTS

Winner - 280 / Runner-up - 180 / Semifinalists - 110 / Quarter-finalists - 60

Round of 16 - 30 / Round of 32 - 1

SEEDS

FINALISTS

Julia Goerges (Germany) defeated Belinda Bencic (Switzerland), score 6-4, 7-5

 WINNER 

Julia Goerges (Germany)

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2017 WINNER:  Carina Witthoft (Germany, centre left) defeated Monica Puig (Porto Rico)

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>>>> PREVIEW RACE TO SINGAPORE<<<<

STANDINGS BEFORE THE MOSCOW KREMLIN CUP:

Only the first 8 players go to the Singapore Finals. So far, Simona Halep, Angelique Kerber, Caroline Wozniacki, Naomi Osaka, Petra Kvitova are qualified, and the WTA website announces Sloane Stephens has qualified too. Among Elina Svitolina, Karolina Pliskova and Kiki Bertens, who do you think will miss the qualification? Personally I like a lot all these players, but I have only seen Bertens on court, I saw her amazing game in Seoul, so I really hope she can make it! Good luck!

wtatennis.com

wikipedia.com

live-tennis.eu

From Seoul, South Korea, October 2018

1. TIANJIN OPEN, CHINA

(and a preview of the Race to Singapore)

ABOUT

The 2018 Tianjin Open is a women's professional tennis tournament played on hard courts. It is the 5th edition of the tournament, and part of the 2018 WTA Tour. It takes place at the Tuanbo International Tennis Centre in Tianjin, China between 8 and 14 October 2018. Maria Sharapova was the defending champion but chose to end her 2018 season early due to injury.

POINTS

Winner - 280 / Runner-up - 180 / Semifinalists - 110 / Quarter-finalists - 60 /

Round of 16 - 30 / Round of 32 - 1

SEEDS

FINALISTS

 French Caroline Garcia defeated Czech  Karolina Pliskova, score 7(9)-6(7) 6-3

 Second-seeded Caroline Garcia won her first tournament of the year with a 7-6 (7), 6-3 win over top-seeded Karolina Pliskova in the Tianjin Open on Sunday. It was the 16th-ranked Garcia’s first title since she won back-to-back trophies at the Wuhan and Beijing tournaments in Asia just over a year ago. The Frenchwoman’s two titles at the end of last season earned her a spot into the year-end WTA Finals in Singapore. This year, the victory in Tianjin is not enough to put Garcia into a second consecutive year-end final appearance.

 Pliskova’s failure to take the title also kept her from confirming a berth in the WTA Finals. Currently in eighth place in the race to Singapore, the Czech will have to wait out the results from next week’s tournaments in Luxembourg and Moscow to see if she qualifies for one of the three remaining spots. Pliskova is scheduled to play in Moscow. American Sloane Stephens, Ukrainian Elena Svitolina and Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens are the other remaining contenders for Singapore.

 Garcia was down 1-5 in the first set tiebreaker before she rebounded. She saved a set point for Pliskova at 5-6 to go on to win the hour-long first set. In the second set, Garcia raced to a 5-0 lead, and first served for the match at 5-1, but had to wait for her victory to come three games later. She secured the title with her sixth ace of the match.

 WINNER 

Caroline Garcia (France)

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2017 WINNER: Maria Sharapova (Russia, left) defeated Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus)

2. HONGKONG OPEN, CHINA

ABOUT

The 2018 Hong Kong Tennis Open (also known as the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open for sponsorship reasons) is a professional tennistournament played on hard courts. It is the ninth edition of the tournament, and part of the 2018 WTA Tour. It takes place in Victoria Park, Hong Kong, from October 8 to 14.

POINTS

Winner - 280 / Runner-up - 180 / Semifinalists - 110 / Quarter-finalists - 60 /

Round of 16 - 30 / Round of 32 - 1

SEEDS

FINALISTS

 Dayana Yastremska (Ukraine, centre right) defeated Wang Qiang (China) , score 6-2 6-1

 WINNER 

Dayana Yastremska (Ukraine)

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2017 WINNER: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Russia, left) defeated Daria Gavrilova (Australia)

2. LINZ OPEN, AUSTRIA

ABOUT

The 2018 Upper Austria Ladies Linz is a women's tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is the 32nd edition of the Linz Open, and part of the WTA International tournaments-category of the 2018 WTA Tour. It is held at the TipsArena Linz in Linz, Austria, from 8 to 14 October 2018.

POINTS

Winner - 280 / Runner-up - 180 / Semifinalists - 110 / Quarter-finalists - 60

Round of 16 - 30 / Round of 32 - 1

SEEDS

FINALISTS

Camila Giorgi (Italy)  defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova (Russia), score 6-3 6-1

 WINNER 

 Camila Giorgi (Italy)

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2017 WINNER: Barbora Strycova (Czech Republic) defeated Magdalena Ribarikova (Slovakia)

wtatennis.com

wikipedia.com

washingtonpost.com