Great show even without Serena, say promoters

SINGAPORE — For the second year running, Serena Williams’ celebratory ballet twirl will be missed at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore, after the American star decided to skip the US$7 million (S$9.8 million) tournament this year to nurse a shoulder injury.

Fan favourites Ana Ivanovic and Maria Sharapova are also missing from the eight-player line-up, with world No 61 Ivanovic failing to qualify while Sharapova is currently serving a drug ban.

However, Lagardere Sports, event promoters of the WTA Finals Singapore remain bullish that the eight-day tournament will continue to be a hit among fans here.

Now in its third edition in Singapore, the WTA Finals attracted a total of 129,000 fans in its inaugural tournament in 2014, before following up with a record turnout of 130,000 last year.

Sarah Clements, vice-president, Tennis — Asia, Lagardere Sports, told TODAY she is confident the tournament will deliver plenty of thrills to keep the turnstiles as busy this year.

Clements does not expect Williams and Sharapova’s no-show to affect ticket sales, as she said yesterday on the sidelines of the WTA Finals official draw ceremony at Marina Bay Sands: “(It’s) certainly not what we see in terms of consumer behaviour. You see No 1 tennis player Angelique Kerber here and you can’t get better than that. Agnieszka Radwanska our champion last year and people like Simona Halep who is incredibly popular in Singapore (are here). The response has been extremely positive … especially with the ladies coming in a little bit earlier this year, lots of exposure, so we’ve seen a nice spike in ticket sales over the past week, which we expect to continue, especially with our family day on Sunday.”

Yesterday’s official draw ceremony gave shoppers at Marina Bay Sands a chance to catch the world’s best seven players — the eighth spot it still up for contention between Briton Johanna Konta and Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) — decked out in their glamorous evening best, with loud cheers greeting fan favourites world No 1 Kerber and Halep, the finalist in the 2014 tournament.

Singles play at the WTA Finals will kick off with the round-robin group stage, with world No 1 Kerber, Halep, Madison Keys, and Dominika Cibulkova to contest the Red Group, while the White Group will comprise defending champion Radwanska, Karolina Pliskova, Garbine Muguruza and the eighth-seeded player.

Women’s top seed Kerber will be the player to watch at the WTA Finals, particularly after the German’s spectacular run this year, which saw the 28-year-old win the Australian Open, US Open and a silver at the Rio Olympics.

Kerber has never advanced beyond the group stage in four appearances at the season-ending tournament, but she has set her sights on the Billie Jean King trophy this year, as she said yesterday: “It was an amazing year for me, I’m trying to enjoy every single moment and it’s nice to be back here in Singapore.” RED GROUP

Angelique Kerber (Germany)

Simona Halep (Romania)

Madison Keys (USA)

Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia)

WHITE GROUP

Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland)

Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic)

Garbiñe Muguruza (Spain)

Johanna Konta (Great Britain)/Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia)

*Konta will take the slot unless Kuznetsova wins the title in Moscow on Saturday.