The Red Group is up for grabs as Ivanovic gets a win over Bouchard
SINGAPORE -- Ana Ivanovic earned her first win over Eugenie Bouchard with a 6-1, 6-3 victory to keep her chances of qualifying for the semifinals of the WTA Finals alive. With Simona Halep on the cusp of qualifying for the semifinals with her 6-0, 6-2 win over Serena Williams -- she qualifies if she wins a single game against Ivanovic on Friday or if Bouchard wins a game from Serena on Thursday -- the other qualification spot out of the Red Group will come down to Serena or Ivanovic.
No. 7 Ivanovic is making her first trip to the year-end championships since 2008. Winless against Bouchard in two matches, she took advantage of her experience in the unique event to get the better of the Canadian rookie. "I felt today I had advantage at different situation because it's her first Championships. Also, this is the first time that she's ranked higher than me in all of our matches, so pressure was on her. I really tried to use this as my advantage and tried to be aggressive and play free; it worked."
The History of the WTA Tour championships
1975
1976
1976
1977
1983
1992
1992
1995
1996
1996
1999
1999
2000
2001
2001
2001
2002
2002
2003
2003
2003
2003
2004
2004
2004
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2008
2008
2009
2009
2009
2009
2010
2010
2010
2010
2011
2011
2012
2012
2012
2013
2013
Ivanovic rolled to a 5-0 lead before Bouchard was able to hold her serve to win a game, but the second set was more competitive than the scoreline would indicate. Bouchard was able to stay level with Ivanovic to 3-3 but was broken on her own double-fault in a protracted seventh game. Ivanovic did well to save four of five break points in the second set to keep Bouchard in check. Bouchard drops to 0-2 in round robin play.
The 20-year-old admitted after her opening loss to Halep that she felt rusty after late-season injuries ate into her practice time. During a coaching timeout on Wednesday she told her coach Nick Saviano that she shouldn't have tried playing the tournament. Bouchard hoped she could play herself into form this week but with the format pitting the top eight players against each other, she's been playing undercooked. "It's something I knew going in, so it's not so much of a surprise. But it's still disappointing, I guess," Bouchard said after the match on Wednesday.
Breaking down the Red Group Standings (After two rounds)
player | record | Sets won | games Played | Games Won | Win % |
Simona Halep | 2-0 | 4-0 | 30 | 26 | .867 |
Ana Ivanovic | 1-1 | 2-2 | 36 | 20 | .556 |
Serena Williams | 1-1 | 2-2 | 34 | 14 | .412 |
Eugenie Bouchard | 0-2 | 0-4 | 31 | 9 | .290 |
At the end of group play, the final standings will be determined (in order) by:
- Wins;
- Numbers of matches played;
- Head-to-head results, if only two players are tied
If three players are tied -- which could happen here if Bouchard beats Serena and Halep beats Ivanovic, leaving a three-way tie between Ivanovic, Serena and Bouchard -- then the final standings and player who advances will be determined by:
- The highest percentage of sets won; or
- The highest percentage of games won
Simona Halep hands Serena Williams worst loss since 1998
Even Ivanovic found herself swept up in the mathematics of her qualification prospects during her match. "At one point in my match today I started counting games, and I'm like, 'Why am I doing this?' Sometimes in a group [competition] that's why it's tough. You know what? I don't want to know. I want to go out there and play the best I can and fight for each game. In a group every game matters, and that's what I'm going to try to do."
Here's the order of play for Thursday, which sees Serena and Bouchard back in action:
[6] Agnieszka Radwanska vs. [8] Caroline Wozniacki
[2] Maria Sharapova vs. [3] Petra Kvitova
Not Before 7:30 pm
[1] Serena Williams vs. [5] Eugenie Bouchard