Play begins today at the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships, featuring the top eight qualifiers for the event. And with 24 titles won among them—including three Grand Slams—it’s a very solid field, to say the least. However, what would the tournament look like if 13-time Major singles champion Serena Williams were among the elite competing this week? And does her absence hurt the quality of the year-end championships?
The months since the end of Wimbledon in 2010 have been filled with their fair share of highs and lows: injuries and health scares kept her off the court for a year, then upon her return, her game started to return to form during the ’11 summer hard-court season. Williams won two events, then made it to the finals of the season’s last Major, the U.S. Open, before falling to Samantha Stosur.
During her hot streak, she notched wins over Caroline Wozniacki, Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka and Stosur—players making up half the field in Istanbul this week. So is it fair to say the championships would have a different feel if Williams were in the draw? Of course, because whenever one of the game’s all-time greatest players enters an event—seeded, unseeded, as a wild card—the other competitors always have to be wary.
