Top 5 Photos, October 28: Svitolina, Halep gutsy in WTA Finals openers
Defending champion Svitolina won a marathon first set tiebreaker against Karolina Pliskova, while Halep was a point away from falling to Bianca Andreescu on Monday.
The world's top players are giving it one last push to close out their year on a high, as the action continues at the WTA Finals Shenzhen and gets underway in Paris for the final ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the season. These are the Top five photos from Monday.
1. Reigning champion Elina Svitolina captured the longest tiebreaker of 2019 against No. 2 seed Karolina Pliiskova in Shenzhen. The Ukrainian posted a 7-6 (12), 6-4 victory to secure her seventh successive WTA Finals match win. Svitolina, who is the only Top-8 player without a title in 2019, has now defeated Pliskova in their last four meetings.
2. After going 0-3 last year in Singapore, Naomi Osaka is off to a better start at the new site of the WTA Finals. Fresh off her victory over Petra Kvitova, Osaka will meet Ashleigh Barty on Tuesday in a replay of their Beijing final, which Osaka rallied to win in three sets. The two-time major champion took some time to visit her supporters at the Shiseido Fan Zone.
3. Marin Cilic, who has reached just one ATP semifinal this year, won his Paris opener against Hubert Hurkacz, 7-6 (5), 6-4, to set up a second-round clash with Stan Wawrinka. Cilic doesn't have a great track record against the Swiss, falling in their last eight bouts. The world No. 24 is 22-18 on the season and owns eight career indoor-hard court crowns.
4. Simona Halep and Bianca Andreescu faced off for the first time in their careers, and didn't disappoint. Halep, this year's Wimbledon champion, was a point away from falling to the teenager, but pulled out a 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-3 win to start her WTA Finals campaign.
5. Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic had a successful year on the doubles court and the two are continuing it in Shenzhen. The Roland Garros champions outlasted Latisha Chan and Hao-Ching Chan, 6-2, 5-7 [10-6], to win their opening match. Babos has triumphed at the event the past two seasons, winning in 2017 with Andrea Hlavackova and last year with Mladenovic.
