Busted Racquet previews the 2011 WTA Championships

Busted Racquet previews the 2011 WTA Championships

By Chris Chase

The 2011 WTA Championships begin Tuesday in Istanbul. Busted Racquet ranks the chances for each of the eight women in the field, from least likely to win, to most likely.

8. Li Na (No. 5 seed) -- Just 5-7 since winning the French Open, Li Na could have used some good luck in her round robin placement. Instead, she's on the same side as tournament heavies Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka and Sam Stosur. A winless trip to Istanbul could be in the cards.

7. Vera Zvonareva (No. 6 seed) -- The Russian is always good and rarely great and her 2011 has been no exception. With the exception of Li Na, it wouldn't be a surprise to see any of the seven women advance to the finals in Istanbul. Given Zvonareva's inconsistent play of late and her three consecutive straight-set losses toAgnieszka Radwanska, who's in her round robin, Vera could be one of the ones departing Istanbul early.

6. Agnieszka Radwanska (No. 8 seed) -- Radwanska played her way into the championships with two straight tournament wins in Tokyo and Beijing. (Then she lost to Lucie Safrova in Moscow and needed help to get in, but that's another story.) Did the effort to get in tire her our or will she continue her run?

5. Sam Stosur (No. 7 seed) -- The U.S. Open champion would be one spot higher on this list, if not for one crucial stat: A 0-9 lifetime record against Maria Sharapova. The Russian has head-to-head leads on every woman in the field with the exception of her Wimbledon vanquisher Petra Kvitova, but her dominance is especially pronounced over Stosur. Since they're in the same round robin, the (slight) edge has to go to Maria.

4. Maria Sharapova (No. 2 seed) -- If her foot is healthy (she's played one tournament since the U.S. Open and had to retire with an ankle injury) and if her serve can hold up to five difficult matches in a row and if her conditioning hasn't slipped since her grand summer run and if she can get out of her difficult round robin and if her serve is on (did I mention that already?) then Sharapova is the tournament favorite. But those are a lot of ifs.

3. Caroline Wozniacki (No. 1 seed) -- There's still a chance Wozniacki could be passed by Sharapova in the year-end rankings if Sharapova wins the tournament. Given the varied rankings point awarded for round-robin wins, it wouldn't happen unless Sharapova went undefeated in the early rounds and Wozniacki failed to make a final (or in a number of other scenarios, each of which depends on Wozniacki flaming out early) but it's possible. If she holds on, Wozniacki would end the year at No. 1 for the second time in her career, tying Monica Seles and Serena Williams on the all-time list.

2. Petra Kvitova (No. 3 seed) -- She hasn't played great since winning Wimbledon but won in Linz and played a tight first set with Vera Zvonareva in Tokyo. With her easy draw, look for her to be a finalist.

1. Victoria Azarenka (No. 4 seed) -- What better way to cap the wild year of women's tennis, one that saw four different Grand Slam champions, than by having an unpredictable winner at the year-end championships. Azarenka hasn't performed well in her two other WTA Championships appearances, winning just two round robin matches combined. In a deep, but not top-heavy field, we say she corrects course to earn the $1.7 million payday.

Whoever wins, we're guaranteed to see the fifth different winner in the past five years. None of the previous five champions (Justine Henin, Venus Williams, Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters) are in the field.