It's Bencic vs Flipkens next for a place in the SF. Bertens has to come through Kanepi and then Sevastova/Mladenovic to potentially set up that huge semi final.
So, Bertens lost, Bencic is losing early stages. Bencic needs to reach final doesnt she, to overtake Bertens?
Yep, Bencic saved a couple of SPs on Flipkens serve, but came through in the end in 2.
If Bencic beats Mladenovic tomorrow she makes the finals, if she loses Serena gets in, and if Serena officially withdraws as most expect, Bertens would get in.
Mladenovic leads the H2H 3-1 and has won the last 3, but you'd still rather be Bencic and have it in your own hands.
I think it's all pretty hypothetical. I'd be astonished if Williams plays!
I think though that 7 players are qualified and currently there is just one spot for grabs, between Williams, Bertens and Bencic. Bencic is the only one running and assuming Williams does indeed not play, as is almost certain, then Bencic still has to top Bertens, so her remaining matches in Moscow do have a lot riding on them
Delighted for Bencic, beats Mladenovic to secure the 8th and final spot at Shenzhen, so that's Barty, Pliskova, Osaka, Halep, Andreescu, Kvitova, Svitolina and Bencic.
Bertens will be first alt, and probably Kenin second. Bertens finished 9th last year but got in because of a Halep injury, so there may be that backdoor entry open to her again, as Halep seems to have been struggling for a few weeks, but hopefully she is fine, and it's the 8 best scoring players competing.
Delighted for Bencic, beats Mladenovic to secure the 8th and final spot at Shenzhen, so that's Barty, Pliskova, Osaka, Halep, Andreescu, Kvitova, Svitolina and Bencic.
Bertens will be first alt, and probably Kenin second. Bertens finished 9th last year but got in because of a Halep injury, so there may be that backdoor entry open to her again, as Halep seems to have been struggling for a few weeks, but hopefully she is fine, and it's the 8 best scoring players competing.
IMO one of the best line ups for a while.
assuming they all play, it is a good line up - and they have a weeks gap this year as well, which hasnt always been the case.
Not that it matters for the finals line-up but Bencic ended up winning the Moscow Premier title ( beating Pavlyuchenkova in the final ) to overtake Svitolina into race #7 and WR 7 with last year's WTA finals and Elite Trophy points dropping out the rankings so that for most top players their race and rankings points and positions have now converged.
WR 7 matches Bencic's CH from February 2016 when still an 18 yo.
Was going to do a seperate thread for this, but may as well use this one. Red looks stronger, especially if Halep isn't firing on all cylinders.
I'd imagine red would represent the Chinese flag, and purple would recommend the main sponsor Shiseido, but could be wrong. It was red and white in Singapore to represent their flag.