Garanti Koza WTA Tournament Of Champions

[GameSetAndMath]

Looks completely different. She must have colored her hair or something.

Yeah you're right - different lady - sorry.

Who is that then? Also, can I have her phone number. :heart:

 

[GameSetAndMath]

And Tossip - Dubai is not an international tournament, that's why Venus is not there.

So, I take it that, if somebody wins a Premier mandatory, Premier 5 or ordinary premier
and does not make it to WTAF tourney will not be invited here unless they have also won
an international tourney.

Then, this is not even the best of the rest tournament.

This is just best of the "second tier players only" tournament.

Can someone post the rules based on which players get in to this tourney? Also, I believe
they have a wild card system for one or two players here? Are they not allowed to give a
wild card to a player if they have not won a international tourney?

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

A very disappointing performance from Petko in her match,I am not taking any credit away from CSN.

Petko now has to prepare herself for the Fed Cup,she will be representing Germany in the singles I believe.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

^ OOps I forget this tournament is a round robin,so for now Petko is still alive in this tournament.

 

[Hoergren]

And Tossip - Dubai is not an international tournament, that's why Venus is not there.

So, I take it that, if somebody wins a Premier mandatory, Premier 5 or ordinary premier
and does not make it to WTAF tourney will not be invited here unless they have also won
an international tourney.

Then, this is not even the best of the rest tournament.

This is just best of the "second tier players only" tournament.

Can someone post the rules based on which players get in to this tourney? Also, I believe
they have a wild card system for one or two players here? Are they not allowed to give a
wild card to a player if they have not won a international tourney?

I can try. The rules have changed a bit through the years from 2009 when it was held for the first time. For the 2009 edition, the 10 highest-ranked players who had captured at least one international tournament during the year and who were not participating in singles at the year-end WTA Tour Championships – Doha 2009 qualified for the event, along with two wildcards. For the 2010 edition, only the top 8 ranked women qualified for the event, with the tournament having the possibility to replace competitors with wildcards of their choice.
The WTA Tournament of Champions took place in Bali from the inaugural edition in 2009 until 2011. Since 2012 the tournament is being held in Sofia, Bulgaria.
From 2015, the event will be renewed with new rules: the tournament (named WTA Elite Trophy) features a 12-woman (from 9th to 19th place of WTA ranking) round robin singles format (four groups of three players, then single-elimination semifinals and final), along with one wildcard, and 6 double pairs (two groups of three pair, then single-elimination semifinals and final). It will offer US$2,150,000 in prize money.

So there will be an upgrade of this tournament and I think it's needed.

If you want to look through the rules yourself - here is the link to the WTA rulebook:

http://www.wtatennis.com/SEWTATour-Archive/Archive/AboutTheTour/rules2014.pdf

 

[Hoergren]

Order of play Wednesday, October 29, 2014 - local time

Arena Armeec
17:45 - [4] Andrea Petkovic (GER) V [8] Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) 75 62
19:45 - [1] Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) V [7] Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP) 26 16
21:45 - [2] Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) V [5] Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP) 75 64

Tennis TV is sending from Sofia.

:celeb: My 1000th post :celeb:

 

[tented]

Congrats, Hoergren! You're now a "Major Winner" :clap

 

[GameSetAndMath]

According to the current rules, Venus is not eligible for direct entry as one of the conditions
is winning an international event.

However, Venus is eligible to be given a wild card as she meets all the requirements
specified in current rules which I am quoting below.

The Tournament shall be permitted to nominate as Wild Cards up
to two (2) players who must either: (i) be ranked in the Top 50 anytime
in 2014 up to the Monday prior to the start of the Tournament;
(ii) have won a Premier Tournament and played singles in an
International Tournament; (iii) have won an International
Tournament; or (iv) be a past Tournament of Champions winner,
provided that the players did not qualify for entry into the Premier
WTA Championships singles draw.

Venus is currently ranked #20, She has won Dubai a premier tournament and
she has played in Qubec an international tournament and she did not qualify for
WTAF. So, she is certainly eligible for a wild card. The tournament organizers
choose not to give her a wild card.

Now, I need to look up as to whether there are any wild cards given to
current participants or all of them came here as direct entry.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

From 2015, the event will be renewed with new rules: the tournament (named WTA Elite Trophy) features a 12-woman (from 9th to 19th place of WTA ranking) round robin singles format (four groups of three players, then single-elimination semifinals and final), along with one wildcard.

I like the new format much better.

1. It goes strictly by ranking and ignores the requirement of winning itsy bitsy tourneys.

2. The format is "tanking proof" as only one winner comes out of each group. May be
they should try this 12 player, 4 groups of 3 format for WTAF too.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

It looks like Pironkova got a wild card considering she is ranked only no. 41 and
is way down the list. That is understandable considering she is from
Bulgaria where the tournament is held. The others seem to be direct entries and
I am providing partial listing of current ranking that includes all other players in the
draw here. Those who are playing here are highlighted.


[9] 9 Li, Na China 26 Feb 1982 3970 14 (Retired)

[10] 10 Kerber, Angelique Germany 18 Jan 1988 3480 22 (did not win any title in 2014)

[11] 11 Makarova, Ekaterina Russia 07 Jun 1988 2970 20

[12] 12 Cibulkova, Dominika Slovakia 06 May 1989 2908 23

[13] 13 Errani, Sara Italy 29 Apr 1987 2775 23 (did not win any title in 2014)

[14] 14 Jankovic, Jelena Serbia 28 Feb 1985 2675 22 (did not win any title in 2014)

[15] 15 Pennetta, Flavia Italy 25 Feb 1982 2642 19

[16] 16 Safarova, Lucie Czech Republic 04 Feb 1987 2615 24 (did not win any title in 2014)

[17] 17 Petkovic, Andrea Germany 09 Sep 1987 2495 24

[18] 18 Suárez Navarro, Carla Spain 03 Sep 1988 2370 24

[19] 19 Williams, Venus United States 17 Jun 1980 2270 18 (did not win an Int. title)

[20] 20 Cornet, Alizé France 22 Jan 1990 2200 23

[21] 21 Stosur, Samantha Australia 30 Mar 1984 2005 23 (Injured)

[22] 22 Peng, Shuai China 08 Jan 1986 2005 24 (did not win any title in 2014)

[23] 23 Muguruza, Garbiñe Spain 08 Oct 1993 1923 22

That is a list of 15 players from which 7 were picked. This means that the other eight are
either retired (such as Na Li) or injured ( such as Samantha Stosur) or did not
win any title (such as Angelique Kerber) or did not win an international title (such as Venus Williams).

As you can see from the above list, Venus was the only one that is ranked higher
than other direct entries and has won a premier title. Given that the tournament
has two wild cards at its disposal, IMO they owe it to Venus to give her a wild card.
They could have always given one wild card to Pironkova (a local girl who has
won an international title, though ranked at #41 right now) and another wild
card to Venus (being ranked higher than at least one other direct entry player
and having won a premier tourney and having played an international tourney).

 

[GameSetAndMath]

What does "Serdika" and "Serdets" mean? Red and White in Bulgarian I suppose.

They like to keep away from Black and White to avoid getting into racist issues and
also they keep away from Pink and Blue to avoid getting into sexist issues.

 

[Hoergren]

What does "Serdika" and "Serdets" mean? Red and White in Bulgarian I suppose.

They like to keep away from Black and White to avoid getting into racist issues and
also they keep away from Pink and Blue to avoid getting into sexist issues.

Serdica (Bulgarian: Сердика) is a district located in the center of the capital Sofia and is also one of the ancient names of Sofia.
Sredets (Bulgarian: Средец) Another of Sofia's names, Triaditsa (Τριάδιτζα or Τριαδίτσα), was mentioned in Greek medieval sources. The Bulgarian name Sredets (СРѢДЄЦЪ), which is related to среда sreda (middle), first appeared in the 11th-century Vision of Daniel and was widely used in the Middle Ages.

Taken from Wiki. So after a little research It's 2 of Sofia's former names

 

[Correspondent Kiu]

Garbiñe is officially Sofia's blogger.

http://www.wtatennis.com/news/article/4255278/title/garbines-blog-hits-from-the-90s

More tomorrow!

 

[HawkEye]

It looks like Pironkova got a wild card considering she is ranked only no. 41 and
is way down the list. That is understandable considering she is from
Bulgaria where the tournament is held. The others seem to be direct entries and
I am providing partial listing of current ranking that includes all other players in the
draw here. Those who are playing here are highlighted.


[9] 9 Li, Na China 26 Feb 1982 3970 14 (Retired)

[10] 10 Kerber, Angelique Germany 18 Jan 1988 3480 22 (did not win any title in 2014)

[11] 11 Makarova, Ekaterina Russia 07 Jun 1988 2970 20

[12] 12 Cibulkova, Dominika Slovakia 06 May 1989 2908 23

[13] 13 Errani, Sara Italy 29 Apr 1987 2775 23 (did not win any title in 2014)

[14] 14 Jankovic, Jelena Serbia 28 Feb 1985 2675 22 (did not win any title in 2014)

[15] 15 Pennetta, Flavia Italy 25 Feb 1982 2642 19

[16] 16 Safarova, Lucie Czech Republic 04 Feb 1987 2615 24 (did not win any title in 2014)

[17] 17 Petkovic, Andrea Germany 09 Sep 1987 2495 24

[18] 18 Suárez Navarro, Carla Spain 03 Sep 1988 2370 24

[19] 19 Williams, Venus United States 17 Jun 1980 2270 18 (did not win an Int. title)

[20] 20 Cornet, Alizé France 22 Jan 1990 2200 23

[21] 21 Stosur, Samantha Australia 30 Mar 1984 2005 23 (Injured)

[22] 22 Peng, Shuai China 08 Jan 1986 2005 24 (did not win any title in 2014)

[23] 23 Muguruza, Garbiñe Spain 08 Oct 1993 1923 22

That is a list of 15 players from which 7 were picked. This means that the other eight are
either retired (such as Na Li) or injured ( such as Samantha Stosur) or did not
win any title (such as Angelique Kerber) or did not win an international title (such as Venus Williams).

As you can see from the above list, Venus was the only one that is ranked higher
than other direct entries and has won a premier title. Given that the tournament
has two wild cards at its disposal, IMO they owe it to Venus to give her a wild card.
They could have always given one wild card to Pironkova (a local girl who has
won an international title, though ranked at #41 right now) and another wild
card to Venus (being ranked higher than at least one other direct entry player
and having won a premier tourney and having played an international tourney).

Actually Flavia Penetta was the first receiving WC. There was no WC left for Venus unfortunatelly.

http://www.wtatennis.com/news/article/4210314/title/pennetta-into-sofia-jj-out-for-2014

 

[rubydo]

Order of play Wednesday, October 29, 2014 - local time

Arena Armeec
17:45 - [4] Andrea Petkovic (GER) V [8] Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL)
19:45 - [1] Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) V [7] Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP)
21:45 - [2] Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) V [5] Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP)

Tennis TV is sending from Sofia.

:celeb: My 1000th post :celeb:

Congrats Hoergren. Now let's see if I do 30 posts a day for 20days in a row...??! I would get close to you!!

 

[GameSetAndMath]

It looks like Pironkova got a wild card considering she is ranked only no. 41 and
is way down the list. That is understandable considering she is from
Bulgaria where the tournament is held. The others seem to be direct entries and
I am providing partial listing of current ranking that includes all other players in the
draw here. Those who are playing here are highlighted.


[9] 9 Li, Na China 26 Feb 1982 3970 14 (Retired)

[10] 10 Kerber, Angelique Germany 18 Jan 1988 3480 22 (did not win any title in 2014)

[11] 11 Makarova, Ekaterina Russia 07 Jun 1988 2970 20

[12] 12 Cibulkova, Dominika Slovakia 06 May 1989 2908 23

[13] 13 Errani, Sara Italy 29 Apr 1987 2775 23 (did not win any title in 2014)

[14] 14 Jankovic, Jelena Serbia 28 Feb 1985 2675 22 (did not win any title in 2014)

[15] 15 Pennetta, Flavia Italy 25 Feb 1982 2642 19

[16] 16 Safarova, Lucie Czech Republic 04 Feb 1987 2615 24 (did not win any title in 2014)

[17] 17 Petkovic, Andrea Germany 09 Sep 1987 2495 24

[18] 18 Suárez Navarro, Carla Spain 03 Sep 1988 2370 24

[19] 19 Williams, Venus United States 17 Jun 1980 2270 18 (did not win an Int. title)

[20] 20 Cornet, Alizé France 22 Jan 1990 2200 23

[21] 21 Stosur, Samantha Australia 30 Mar 1984 2005 23 (Injured)

[22] 22 Peng, Shuai China 08 Jan 1986 2005 24 (did not win any title in 2014)

[23] 23 Muguruza, Garbiñe Spain 08 Oct 1993 1923 22

That is a list of 15 players from which 7 were picked. This means that the other eight are
either retired (such as Na Li) or injured ( such as Samantha Stosur) or did not
win any title (such as Angelique Kerber) or did not win an international title (such as Venus Williams).

As you can see from the above list, Venus was the only one that is ranked higher
than other direct entries and has won a premier title. Given that the tournament
has two wild cards at its disposal, IMO they owe it to Venus to give her a wild card.
They could have always given one wild card to Pironkova (a local girl who has
won an international title, though ranked at #41 right now) and another wild
card to Venus (being ranked higher than at least one other direct entry player
and having won a premier tourney and having played an international tourney).

Actually Flavia Penetta was the first receiving WC. There was no WC left for Venus unfortunatelly.

http://www.wtatennis.com/news/article/4210314/title/pennetta-into-sofia-jj-out-for-2014

I was thinking Flavia won an international title. She did not.

In that case, all is fair. It is only appropriate to give Flavia the wild card as opposed to
Venus. Flavia won a mandatory premier (IW) whereas Venus won only an ordinary premier.
Also, Flavia is higher ranked than Venus.

It is also proper to give a wild card to Pironkova, as she is a local girl, she has won
an international title and she is in the top 50.

 

[faradubii]

Pironkova seems to be a waste of a WC. So far in Sofia she got 1 win out of 6 matches. This year already 0-2. Last year she had a field day with the Bulgarian press after 0-3. It's good for her this is the last one in Sofia.

 

[Hoergren]

Nice smile

 

[GameSetAndMath]

So, pocket rocket is in pole position. Now, can she manipulate the system? :devil

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Flavia v Garbine is my pick of the matches tomorrow.