The WTA Kremlin Cup this week is the final stop on the regular season. All eight places for the WTA Finals have been settled because of Caroline Garcia’s storming form recently which means that there is, somewhat disappointingly, nothing riding on this tournament, other than picking up prize money for the players. The headliner in Moscow is Maria Sharapova, who won the Tianjin Open on the weekend to claim her first title since 2015.
Sharapova returns to Russia
Now, for the first time in a decade, she will be appearing on her home soil at the Kremlin Cup as she was given a wildcard which she accepted. This will be just the fourth time that she has been there and has never picked up the title there either. But Paddy Power have installed her as the 3/1 outright favourite to go and collect the title this week. It would be a decent finish for the season because she won’t be going to the WTA Finals.
Sharapova has landed herself in a comfortable draw as well in the third quarter and he has compatriots Ekaterina Makarova and third-seed Elena Vesnina in the same quarter as well. But Sharapova is running in decent form on the back of her success over the last week and because no-one needs WTA Finals qualification points, there isn’t a strong field out. Johanna Konta was scheduled to appear but she withdrew because of injury.
Mladenovic heads the field
France’s Kristina Mladenovic is the top seed for the event but she is well worth a pass because her Asian tour has been pretty woeful, not having won a match. So that opens up the top half and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova could be the big benefactor. She just won a title in Hong Kong over Daria Gavrilova to carry forward some confidence and that was her second title this year. The Russian will have good support behind her and she is a great 11/1 option in the field and she reached the semi finals in her previous tournament appearance in 2015.
Elena Vesnina isn’t carrying terrific form to really oppose Sharapova in the third quarter so that leaves an interesting look down in the fourth quarter where second seed Coco Vandeweghe goes. She played her first tournament since the US Open in Beijing recently and retired in the second round, so it’s hard to judge her full fitness, but she is one of the better players in the field. But we would suggest opposing her with US compatriot Christina McHale who has had a very solid Asian swing of the season, to top the quarter.
McHale has reached the semi’s of Tokyo and last weekend went to the quarters of Tianjin so has shown up and well. She’s a big 40/1 outright winner, but not without some each way appeal. She is our outsider tip for the tournament, with the stronger money going towards the in-form Sharapova and fellow Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.