WTA Finals 2026, Indian Wells, USA

[MargaretMcAleer]

Credit to Mirra her ROS and shot making and serve have been the highlights of her match

Mirra gives Saba a bagel in the 2nd set
Back to the drawing board for Saba
Andreeva d Sabalenka 64 60

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

First singles match between Muchova v Svitolina
Muchova started off well winning the 1st set 63
Sviktolina from the 2nd set showed more patience, stepping up in the right moments, where Muchova's game her serve and ufe in her game was her undoing.
Svitolina d Muchova 36 62 62

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Sabalenka v Svitolina to decide 2nd place in Group 2 on Friday
Muchova is eliminated

Sabalenka 1-1
Andreeva 2-0 Qualified
Svitolina 1-1
Muchova 0-2 Eliminated

Note:
Andreeva jumps to world No 2 in the live rankings, has a good shot at world No 1 at the AO 2027, especially if she ends up winning the title this week

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

In the first doubles match,
Dabrowski/Stefani (1) d Mladenovic/Guo 76(5) 46 10-5 ( rematch of the Wimbledon final )

In the 2nd doubles match,
Ostapenko/Hsieh (5) d Mertens/Zhang (7) 75 73

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Order of Play,
Thursday November 12,
Starts at 12pm,
Gauff (4) vs Kostyuk ( 1st alternate)
Pegula (5) vs Noskova (8)

NOTE:
Pegula will advance to the SFs with a win over Noskova, even if she loses, she will advance if Kostyuk beats Gauff
Gauff to advance to the SFs she has to beat Kostyuk, and Noskova must beat Pegula.

Doubles Matches,

Siniakova/Townsend (2) vs Bucsa/Melichar-Martinez (4)
Note If Bucsa/Melichar-Martinez win they will secure the 2nd SF spot

Perez/Schuurs (6) vs Errani/Paolini (8)

 

[kskate2]

I disagree. I don't care if the russian or belarus players didn't start the war. There should be as much pressure as you can make in any situation to make the people in these country put pressure on their government to end the war. And excluding them from all kinds of things - including sportevents - can help with that.

The ukranian players have families in danger everyday. I stand with them on this.

By your own admission you're contradicting your viewpoint. On one hand you say it doesn't matter if the Russian or Belarussian players didn't start the war, but you want organizations like the WTA, ATP and ITF to play war police and punish those players for something they didn't do. You can't have it both ways. The tennis players either are responsible for starting the war or they're not. If they're not responsible for starting it, they can't be penalized for not ending it. I'm sorry, it's been 5 years and no amount of not shaking hands, taking a group photos or otherwise is putting a dent of pressure on the Russian government to stop this war.

I empathize with the people in Ukraine, but I would hope no one would hold me personally responsible for the actions of my government or president.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

First ladies singles match,
Gauff v Kostyuk
Gauff won the toss and will serve first, though she will be serving into the sun for her first service game
Remember Gauff has to win to remain in contention for the 2nd SF spot, Gauff leads their H2H 4-2
Gauff will serve for the 1st set 5-3, Kostyuk had the trainer out for her wrist, she came into the tournament with a injured wrist, she should try to flatten out her shots, rather than use spin especially in the thin air of IW
I have said this many, many times, one of the biggest reasons that Gauff DFs is her ball toss, and she tends to crunch over after she releases the toss and her ball finds the net
Kostyuk breaks, as Gauff breaks herself with DFs
Back on serve
Gauff and her footwork on display she is like a 'brick wall'
Gauff has 1 SP, wow a cross court volley winner and she wins the 1st set 64

 

[MoonSport]

Still getting used to the Finals being at Indian Wells lol. Desert conditions might suit the big hitters more than people think, curious who handles it best

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Still getting used to the Finals being at Indian Wells lol. Desert conditions might suit the big hitters more than people think, curious who handles it best

The thin air at this time of year in IW is very tricky, though at least we have seen sunshine all week so far
Well Saba is a big hitter and she got routed by Andreeva 64 60
Who handles the conditions the best will win, Andreeva to me has been the most impressive so far and in now No 2 in the live rankings

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Gauff and her DFs have been her undoing early in the 2nd set, her serve has lost her rhythm, take the pace off your serve Coco
Kostyuk leads 4-0
Gauff took a MTO after she lost her 1st service game, lower back problem
Gauff finally on the board, she did take some pace off her serve, and it worked
Kostyuk 5-1
For the life of me Coco Take Pace off your serve,
Kostyuk will serve for the 2nd set 5-2
Gauff breaks Kostyuk while serving for the 2nd set
Gauff 3-5, Gauff is now swinging freely and its working? not letting the score line worry her at all
Kostyuk will now have a 2nd chance to serve for the 2nd set 5-4
You never never right off Gauff, back on serve 5 all, Gauff as well 18 of the last 20 points in this set
Okay and Gauff has found her 1st serve as well
Gauff was 1-5 down and now Kostyuk 5-6, will serve to force a TB in the 2nd set, Unbelievable!
Gauff with MP as Kostyuk fhand finds the net
Gauff d Kostyuk 64 75 and is still in contention for the 2nd SF spot

 

[lomaha]

By your own admission you're contradicting your viewpoint. On one hand you say it doesn't matter if the Russian or Belarussian players didn't start the war, but you want organizations like the WTA, ATP and ITF to play war police and punish those players for something they didn't do. You can't have it both ways. The tennis players either are responsible for starting the war or they're not. If they're not responsible for starting it, they can't be penalized for not ending it. I'm sorry, it's been 5 years and no amount of not shaking hands, taking a group photos or otherwise is putting a dent of pressure on the Russian government to stop this war.

I empathize with the people in Ukraine, but I would hope no one would hold me personally responsible for the actions of my government or president.

You misunderstand me. The russian government har chosen to attack another country.I empathize with every kind of pressure we can put on them to stop the war, including excluding their people from any kind of sports.
I don't care that none of the athletes started the war. If they want to compete they need to put pressure on their government to end the war. Period. A lot of Ukranien would like to do sports too. Some of them are now soldiers defending their country, others are dead. Those are the ones I feel sorry for. Not the russians.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

2nd Singles match,
Noskova v Pegula
Noskova leads H2H 3-1
Pegula has to win this match to qualify for 2nd SF spot, if not Gauff will qualify
Noskova won the toss and chose to receive, I didnt know Noskova had a 'nose ring"
I have the great Martina Navratilova as one of my commentators on this match
Games have been on serve so far
Pegula has had a couple of BPs in Noskova game but has not been able to convert
Noskova DFs and Pegula will serve for the 1st set 5-3
Noskova breaks back on serve
5 games all
Noskova will now serve at 5-6 to force a TB for the 1st set
6 games all TB for the 1s set, Pegula to serve 1st
UFE coming off the racket of both players with their service games early in the TB
Pegula with a good ROS and Noskova fhand wide
Pegula 4-2
Pegula 5-2 wrong footing Noskova
Pegula 6-2
A well played TB for Pegula, after initial ufe and wins the the 1st set 76 (2)

 

[Fiero425]

You misunderstand me. The russian government har chosen to attack another country.I empathize with every kind of pressure we can put on them to stop the war, including excluding their people from any kind of sports.
I don't care that none of the athletes started the war. If they want to compete they need to put pressure on their government to end the war. Period. A lot of Ukranien would like to do sports too. Some of them are now soldiers defending their country, others are dead. Those are the ones I feel sorry for. Not the russians.

You think Putin GAF about pressure, reason, & conscience? Like Trump, he's only enriched himself & his family while blowing up his own country! He doesn't care Russia doesn't have an international following & that his athletes can't compete abroad! I have little to no sympathy for these people as they've allowed this evil to go on for years! If they'd risen up as one to stop this anarchy yrs. ago, the appreciation around the world would've been massive! Now I'm not sure WTF will happen!

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Noskova's 1st serve has abandoned her today when needed most, she has to rely heavily on her 2nd serve which has paid off better than her 1st serve.
Noskova saves 3 BPs and leads 2-1
Pegula with 2 BPs and Noskova DFs and gifts the break to Pegula
Pegula leads 3-1
Both ladies first serves have gone AWOL when needed in this match
Noskova breaks cross court slice winner
Back on serve 3 all