Williams vs Li in the final

The semi finals contrasted as one was relatively routine, whilst the other was an extended and at times confusing battle. In each instance, I guessed the winner correctly!

(Rank/Seed)

1/1 Williams outlasted the ever tenacious (8/7) Jankovic 64 26 64 to reach her 6th career WTA Championships final. Williams was exhausted due to her unusually busy season (this was her 81st match of the year), hitting 40 unforced errors throughout and was twice reduced to tears at the sit down. Jankovic struggled to contend with Williams's strangely slow serves as she let a 3-1 first set lead slip, hitting most of her total 22 unforced errors in dropping the set. Williams simply hit the ball as hard as she could off the ground, a tactic she would later adopt again in the third set (she hit 40 winners overall). However, Jankovic mastered the tactic of moving Williams side to side in the second set, hitting most of her  total 22 winners as Williams was reduced to chipping the balls back. This riled the crowd who berated Williams for what seemed to be poor sportsmanship. Whether this affected Williams or not, she came out firing in the third set, her serve back at full potency in building a 5-1 lead. Jankovic wasn't finished though as she saved 3 match points to win the next three games and come within a point of levelling at 5-5, only for Williams to hit an ace. Williams has survived for now, but it's tough to see her getting away with it again in the final.

5/4 Li confidently bypassed 2011 champion (6/5) Kvitova 64 62 to become the first Asian finalist at the WTA Championships and the first to crack the top 3! Li had another quick start in building a double break 3-0 lead, only for Kvitova to overcome the early rust in levelling at 4-4. She even had a game point for a 5-4 lead but double faulted, Li then taking the initiative to break and serve out the set. Though Kvitova would win 2 straight games to take a 2-1 lead in the second, her energy levels dissipated dramatically as Li romped through the last 5 games. Li was the much steadier of the two despite her typically cagey forehand, hitting 18 winners to 15 unforced errors, even implementing her new serve and volley effectively throughout. Kvitova was sluggish and slow on her feet, hitting only 14 winners to 29 unforced errors.