Marion Bartoli, Martina Navratilova, Madison Keys and Laura Robson give their predictions ahead of the season-ending WTA Finals in Indian Wells. Five players are returning to the year-end event, including reigning champion and world No 1 Elena Rybakina, while three are set to make their debut, but who will prevail? Who will win the tournament in the California desert and who will be the dark horse?
We've asked our panel of experts for their predictions. Group 1[1] Elena Rybakina[4] Coco Gauff[5] Jessica Pegula[8] Linda Noskova Group 2[2] Aryna Sabalenka[3] Mirra Andreeva[6] Elina Svitolina[7] Karolina Muchova Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player I'm picking Aryna Sabalenka, just ahead of Elena Rybakina. Sabalenka has won 85 per cent of her hard-court matches this year, 34 wins from 40, which is the best percentage of the eight qualifiers.
The strongest argument for me is what she did in March. She won 12 matches in a row to complete the 'Sunshine Double', beating Rybakina in the Indian Wells final and again, in straight sets, in the Miami semi-final before beating Coco Gauff for the title. Add the Brisbane title and finals at both hard-court Grand Slams, and you can see how consistently she's put herself in a position to win on this surface.
November in Indian Wells is a different test. The cooler desert evenings could change how the ball comes through the court. She's played only three matches since the US Open final - so three and a half weeks between her last match and the start of the Finals.
I'd expect her to have fresh legs, which matters if she goes deep into the week. The question is how quickly she finds her competitive rhythm. As a coach, I'll be watching how deep she returns and how balanced she is when she goes after that first groundstroke.
In a round robin, you can recover from an early loss, but your first opponent is already one of the best players in the world. Rybakina has the strongest case alongside her. She's the year-end world No 1, the defending WTA Finals champion and she's won 41 hard-court matches this year, more than anyone in the field.
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