After the razzmatazz of this year’s final major (the ‘olden slam’ as it became known to some pundits), it is time for the home straight for the year-ending championships and a chance to sign off the year with style.
A mixture of European and – beforehand Asian indoor locales fills this final flurry on both tours, with some reliable names capturing titles since New York.
Gilles Simon, Ernests Gulbis and Milos Raonic are all capable of building ontheir successes this month to be there or thereabouts the very top once more. A prolonged place in the top ten may be too much to ask right now, but hardly inconceivable.
The women’s circuit saw Bojana Jovanovski (who’s name always reminds me of ageing rockers Bon Jovi) as the best performer, snatching two titles in Uzbekistan and China. In between those tournaments Radwanska and a resurgent Kvitova claimed the spoils, the latter overcoming another comeback queen in Venus Williams.
Her sister meanwhile has been confirmed as the year-end number one for surprisingly only the third time.
ATP
Moselle Open, France
ATP World Tour 250 Indoor, Hard, €410,200
Singles: Gilles Simon
Doubles: Raven Klaasen, Johan Brunstrom
St. Petersburg Open, Russia
ATP World Tour 250 Indoor, Hard, $455,775
Singles: Ernests Gulbis
Doubles: Fernando Verdasco, David Marrero
Thailand Open, Thailand
ATP World Tour 250 Indoor, Hard, $567,530
Singles: Milos Raonic
Doubles: John Peers, Jamie Murray
Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
ATP World Tour 250 Indoor, Hard, $875,500
Singles: Joao Sousa
Doubles: Raven Klaasen, Eric Butorac
WTA
Challenge Bell – Quebec City, Canada
SINGLES: Lucie Safarova d. Marina Erakovic6-4 6-3
DOUBLES: Anastasia Rodionova/Alla Kudryavtseva d. Andrea Hlavackova/Lucie Hradecka 6-4 6-3
Tashkent Open – Tashkent, Uzbekistan
SINGLES: Bojana Jovanovski d. Olga Govortsova 4-6 7-5 7-6(3)
DOUBLES: Yaroslava Shvedova/Timea Babos d. Olga Govortsova/Mandy Minella 6-3 6-3
Guangzhou Open – Guangzhou, China
SINGLES: Shuai Zhang d. Vania King 7-6(1) 6-1
DOUBLES: Shuai Peng/Su-Wei Hsieh d. Vania King/Galina Voskoboeva 6-3 4-6 12-10
KDB Korea Open – Seoul, Korea
SINGLES: Agnieszka Radwanska d. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-7(6) 6-3 6-4
DOUBLES: Chin-Wei Chan/Yi-Fan Xu d. Raquel Kops-Jones/Abigail Spears 7-5 6-3
Toray Pan Pacific Open – Tokyo, Japan
SINGLES: Petra Kvitova d. Angelique Kerber6-2 0-6 6-3
DOUBLES: Cara Black/Sania Mirza d. Hao-Ching Chan/Liezel Huber 4-6 6-0 11-9
Yinzhou Bank International Women’s Tennis Open – Ningbo, China
SINGLES: Bojana Jovanovski d. Shuai Zhang6-7(7) 6-4 6-1
DOUBLES: Shuai Zhang/Yung-Jan Chan d. Irina Buryachok/Oksana Kalashnikova 6-2 6-1
All Things Tennis 