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WTA Zhuhai: Final Prediction

By Jake Fletcher

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WTA Zhuhai: Will Venus or Karolina tower over Zhuhai?

The final has been decided at the 2015 WTA Elite Trophy, staged on the indoor hard courts in Zhuhai, China.

Venus Williams will face Karolina Pliskova in a clash of the titans, with both women towering over six feet tall.

The WTA Elite Trophy consists of the eleven highest ranked women who narrowly missed out on a place at the eight woman WTA Finals, won last week by Agnieszka Radwanska, plus a wild card.

Here’s my prediction as to who will win the title and finish the year inside the top 10.

(Rank/Seed)

(11/1) Venus Williams vs (13/3) Karolina Pliskova

Williams admits that China has been good to her this autumn. Roughly a month ago, the American claimed her biggest title in five years in Wuhan and went on to reach the semi finals in Hong Kong. Now, she stands to win her third title of the year (winning Auckland in January) and return to the top 10 for the first time in over four years.

Pliskova has also played well this Asian swing, reaching the semi finals in Tianjin and the quarter finals in Tokyo and Wuhan. The Czech is into her sixth final of the season, more than any other player on the WTA, and will hope to return inside the top 10 which she first cracked this August.

In what is the inaugural edition of this event, both players came through their round robin groups with perfect records.

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Williams was hard pressed to survive (19/7) Madison Keys 36 76(5) 61 and was surprisingly tested by (75/12 WC) Zheng Saisai before cruising 46 61 61. In the knock out stages of the semi finals, she crushed US Open finalist, (15/4) Roberta Vinci 62 62 to claim her 40th match win of the year, her most since 2008!

Pliskova complained of fatigue in battling past (21/9) Jelena Jankovic 64 36 62 to claim her 50th win of the season, one of only four women to do so.  However, she was fresh enough to crush (18/6) Sara Errani 60 63 and had little trouble disposing of (20/8) Elina Svitolina 63 61 in the semi finals.

As Williams and Pliskova have never met before, big match experience will likely be the most important factor in the upcoming match.

Williams is a veteran at 35 years of age and has won 47 of the 77 finals she’s contested, including 7 Grand Slams. She also boasts a perfect record in finals this year.

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Pliskova, at only 23 years old has naturally played less finals, winning 4 of the 11 finals she’s contested. However, she’s yet to win a title of this size and has lost all but one final played this year, winning the International level event in Prague but losing at Premier events in Sydney, Dubai, Birmingham and Stanford.

It’s clear that the serve will be a crucial factor in this match as both have such big deliveries, Pliskova hitting the second most amount of aces behind Serena Williams this year. Therefore, the return will be of perhaps even greater importance as it will come down to who can get a better read of the serve and attack the weaker second. As both women are so tall, it will also be important for both players to get the other on the move and out of position.

I think that Williams’s experience and superior movement should put her in good stead to win, providing she serves well.

WTA Zhuhai: Final Prediction- Venus Williams

Next: WTA Finals: Final Prediction

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