By Chris Oddo | Friday October 19, 2018
Here's how the groups shape up for next week's WTA Finals in Singapore--play begins Sunday.
Photo Source: Clive Brunskill/Getty Asia Pacific
The WTA Finals Singapore draw is out and if history is any indication, Petra Kvitova and Sloane Stephens are the biggest winners.
Here’s how the Red and White Groups stack up:
Kvitova has a winning record against all three players the White Group, coming in at 8-5 against Caroline Wozniacki, 7-1 against Elina Svitolina and 3-0 against Karolina Pliskova.
That’s great news for Kvitova, a great indoor player that owns a 10-8 lifetime record at the WTA Finals, which includes a title in 2011 (on her debut) and a runner-up performance in her last performance at the WTA Finals in 2015.
Sloane Stephens also has the edge on paper against the Red Group.
The American is 4-1 against Angelique Kerber, 1-0 against Naomi Osaka and 1-0 against Kiki Bertens, leaving her at 6-1 against the other three players in the Red Group.
The draw works well for Stephens, who gets to avoid Caroline Wozniacki, the only player of the eight that she holds a losing lifetime record against.
"Excited for another great opportunity to compete with the best players in the world," Stephens said, according to WTATennis.com. "It’s a really good group, really strong girls. I think it will be some great match ups and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Defending WTA Finals champion Wozniacki is 14-12 against the other three members of the White Group, including 6-3 against Pliskova and 3-1 against Svitolina—not a bad draw for the Dane, but she has dropped her last four against Kvitova.
WTA Finals debutante Osaka owns a 2-4 lifetime record against the other three members of the Red Group, but Kerber is the player that has done the most damage against her, going 3-1 lifetime against Japan’s top player.
Kerber has won her last six sets against Osaka after dropping their first ever meeting.
From an experience standpoint, Kerber is sitting pretty—the 2016 runner-up shares the Red Group with three WTA Finals debutantes (Osaka, Bertens and Stephens).
"I think it doesn’t matter in which group you are, we are the eight best players in the world right now, so I’m feeling good and ready to go,” Kerber said on Friday.
Kerber is making her fifth appearance at the WTA finals, while Kvitova and Wozniacki are each making their sixth.