The third thing that Tennis watchers have to look forward to is the WTA/ATP Year End Finals. This big event takes the top 8 players in the rankings and pits them against each other in a round robin format. It is a decisive tournament because you get to see the best players square off each other without having to hope it happens in a tournament. If the players are in the same group. They are going to see each other.
Format
The format for this tournament is a little confusing because it is round robin. The way it works is that they split the players into two groups of 4 (groups red and white for the ladies, groups A and B for the men). Then each player in the group plays every person in the group. The top player in each group plays the runner up in the opposite group for the semifinals. Then those two winners play each other in the finals.
If the win records are equal, then the games are counted.
Who Cares?
The interesting thing about this tournament is that, because of the format, it matters how badly you beat your opponents. If you BARELY beat an opponent in your group, there is a very good chance that you can run into them in the finals. In a few instances the lottery put all the strongest competitors in on group. (1 and 2 ranked players are always split). Then the whole week was about what is going to happen in that group.
Unfortunately for 2014 the ladies have their tournament at the end of October a week before Halloween. I forget to watch EVERY YEAR :( From the look of the highlights, it was a great tournament.
In the red group 3 players had the same record of 2-1. This is the group that had Serena Williams! Simona Halep and Ana Ivanovic had to battle in out in the on the last day. Simona had 2 wins and Ivanovic had a 1-1 record. So Ivanovic would have to beat Simona in straight sets to knock Serena, who already had a 2-1 record, out of the semifinals.
Simona could have EASILY just rolled over and played dead for Serena to be knocked out but she didn't. And as the story goes:
Simona Halep beat Serena Williams earlier in the tournament....and then lost to her in the final. That's what I'm talking about!!
Oh well. The men play next week.
