SHENZHEN, China: In-form world number three Naomi Osaka believes she is better equipped to deal with the WTA Finals’ demanding round-robin format, after her maiden appearance at the season-ending showpiece ended in tears.
There was much attention on the Japanese sensation entering last year’s WTA Finals on the back of a controversial US Open victory over Serena Williams.
But Osaka failed to live up to the hype in a winless campaign that ended in tears when she was forced to retire against Kiki Bertens due to a hamstring injury.
Having learned the lessons from that bitter experience, Osaka said she knew what to expect in the $14 million tournament pitting the eight best ranked players of 2019.
The lucrative WTA Finals has moved to the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen for the next 10 years after a five-year run in Singapore.
“I definitely think last year helped me in the way that I kind of know the format more,” Osaka told reporters on Saturday.
“Before last year, I hadn’t played round-robin since I was, like, eight or ten.
“I think the end of last year was just so hectic for me. Honestly, by the time I got to the (WTA Finals), I was just so tired,” Osaka added.
She will be one of the favorites in Shenzhen having claimed successive titles in Osaka and Beijing.
It has been a return to form for the 22-year-old after a stunning first round exit at Wimbledon followed by a lackluster US Open title defense ended with a round of 16 defeat to Belinda Bencic, who she will face in Shenzhen.
Osaka said renewed concentration was the catalyst for her late season revival.
“Those matches that I’ve played (in Beijing and Osaka), I just tried 100 percent,” she said.
“I tried to be as focused as I could every point, which for me is something very difficult to do because my mind tends to wander a lot.”
Osaka has been drawn in the Red Group featuring Bencic, world number one Ashleigh Barty and Petra Kvitova.
The Finals start on Sunday with Osaka up first against Kvitova, before Barty takes on Bencic.
World number two Karolina Pliskova has top billing in the Purple Group and starts her tournament with a mouth-watering clash against defending champion Elina Svitolina on Monday.
US Open champion Bianca Andreescu takes on Wimbledon winner Simona Halep later the same day in a battle of the past two Grand Slam champions.
The top two players in each group advance to the semifinals next Saturday.
The event’s move to China is highlighted by an eye-watering total prize pool of $14 million with the winner receiving up to $4.725 million — the highest payday in tennis history.
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Thun head Sunday to local rival Young Boys, a 17-time title winner and Champions League regular in recent years, as the current best team in Switzerland.
Following Leicester’s lead
Thun are the latest unheralded European club taking inspiration from Leicester.
Last year, Union Saint-Gilloise won their first Belgian title for 90 years and tiny Mjällby were champion of Sweden for the first time in their 86-year history.
Title races across Europe see Hearts on course for a first Scottish title in 66 years and Paris Saint-Germain being chased by Lens which won their only French title 28 years ago.
The most common link is clubs in provincial towns and cities run on low budgets with a collective team-first ethic.
“You really feel that it’s like a family,” Lustrinelli said last year when extending his contract at the club where he was once a star striker and has coached for four seasons.
Thun’s key players
It took Thun five years to get out of the second division after being relegated in 2020. That period included severe financial issues and being part of a multi-club ownership group backed by American and Chinese investors.
Thun are independent and locally owned again, and built a plan with Lustrinelli for a team playing the direct, pressing style he wants with two central strikers.
Top scorer this season is 12-goal Elmin Rastoder, a Swiss-born North Macedonia international who could feature in the World Cup playoffs against Denmark later this month.
Rastoder’s strike partner Thursday was Brighton Labeau, once a teammate of Kylian Mbappé, who is three years younger, when they were both in the Monaco academy.
Thun’s star prospect is Ethan Meichtry, a Switzerland under-21 midfielder who could yet make the World Cup squad.
Champions League debut
Thun were one of the smallest clubs to play in the Champions League after Lustrinelli’s 20-goal season lifted the team to Swiss league runner-up in 2005.
Thun advanced through two qualifying rounds to reach the elite stage, finishing third in a group behind Arsenal and Ajax.
Back then, Thun played European games at Young Boys’ stadium in Bern because their old home was below UEFA standard.
If Thun enter the Champions League in the second qualifying round in July, home games should be at their 10,000-seat Stockhorn Arena — with artificial turf, just like at Bodø/Glimt inside the Arctic Circle in Norway.
The Swiss champion must win through three qualifying rounds to reach the 36-team league phase.
Home of Swiss soccer
Thun will soon be the home of Switzerland’s soccer federation.
The Swiss Football Home project was approved last August and will include a new headquarters for the federation plus training fields for national teams. Next door will likely be the next Swiss champion.
“The road is still long,” Lustrinelli said of the 10-game run-in, “and we want everyone who will help us get those 30 points.”
Japanese sensation Naomi Osaka steeled for WTA tennis finals
Japanese sensation Naomi Osaka steeled for WTA tennis finals
- Naomi Osaka entered last year’s WTA Finals on the back of a controversial US Open victory over Serena Williams
- The Finals start on Sunday with the Japanese star up first against Petra Kvitova
Like Leicester and Bodø/Glimt, Swiss soccer club Thun set to be historic league champion
- Thun have never won the top-tier league in the club’s 128-year history yet this season has turned the standings into a procession
- Thun are the latest unheralded European club taking inspiration from Leicester
GENEVA: Like Leicester’s Premier League title in 2016 and Bodø/Glimt’s stunning rise in Norway since 2020, Swiss soccer looks set to get its own surprise champion.
Thun have never won the top-tier league in the club’s 128-year history yet this season has turned the standings into a procession — even as a newly promoted club.
A 2-2 draw with second-place St. Gallen late Thursday stopped Thun’s run of 10 straight wins yet coach Mauro Lustrinelli’s team are 14 points clear with 10 rounds left.
“We are also a young team in the sense that the team are experiencing their first Super League,” Lustrinelli told Swiss public broadcaster SRF after his players conceded a stoppage-time goal to drop points for the first time since December.
Thun head Sunday to local rival Young Boys, a 17-time title winner and Champions League regular in recent years, as the current best team in Switzerland.
Following Leicester’s lead
Thun are the latest unheralded European club taking inspiration from Leicester.
Last year, Union Saint-Gilloise won their first Belgian title for 90 years and tiny Mjällby were champion of Sweden for the first time in their 86-year history.
Title races across Europe see Hearts on course for a first Scottish title in 66 years and Paris Saint-Germain being chased by Lens which won their only French title 28 years ago.
The most common link is clubs in provincial towns and cities run on low budgets with a collective team-first ethic.
“You really feel that it’s like a family,” Lustrinelli said last year when extending his contract at the club where he was once a star striker and has coached for four seasons.
Thun’s key players
It took Thun five years to get out of the second division after being relegated in 2020. That period included severe financial issues and being part of a multi-club ownership group backed by American and Chinese investors.
Thun are independent and locally owned again, and built a plan with Lustrinelli for a team playing the direct, pressing style he wants with two central strikers.
Top scorer this season is 12-goal Elmin Rastoder, a Swiss-born North Macedonia international who could feature in the World Cup playoffs against Denmark later this month.
Rastoder’s strike partner Thursday was Brighton Labeau, once a teammate of Kylian Mbappé, who is three years younger, when they were both in the Monaco academy.
Thun’s star prospect is Ethan Meichtry, a Switzerland under-21 midfielder who could yet make the World Cup squad.
Champions League debut
Thun were one of the smallest clubs to play in the Champions League after Lustrinelli’s 20-goal season lifted the team to Swiss league runner-up in 2005.
Thun advanced through two qualifying rounds to reach the elite stage, finishing third in a group behind Arsenal and Ajax.
Back then, Thun played European games at Young Boys’ stadium in Bern because their old home was below UEFA standard.
If Thun enter the Champions League in the second qualifying round in July, home games should be at their 10,000-seat Stockhorn Arena — with artificial turf, just like at Bodø/Glimt inside the Arctic Circle in Norway.
The Swiss champion must win through three qualifying rounds to reach the 36-team league phase.
Home of Swiss soccer
Thun will soon be the home of Switzerland’s soccer federation.
The Swiss Football Home project was approved last August and will include a new headquarters for the federation plus training fields for national teams. Next door will likely be the next Swiss champion.
“The road is still long,” Lustrinelli said of the 10-game run-in, “and we want everyone who will help us get those 30 points.”
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