The last two standing: Previewing, picking the WTA Finals title match

The WTA Finals, and the tour’s 2016 season, will conclude on Sunday in Singapore with a match between the most-likely and the least-likely. Kerber is the world No. 1 and top seed, and she seems to be peaking at the right moment. The German’s level has risen with each match, so much so that she made exceedingly quick work of the tournament’s No. 2 seed, Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-2, 6-1, in the semifinals. Cibulkova, by contrast, is a WTA Finals rookie who lost her first two matches here and, as of Thursday, appeared destined to go winless for the week. Even after sneaking into the semis, Domi looked ready to make her exit again on Saturday, when she dropped the first set to Svetlana Kuznetova, 6-1. But the ever-upbeat Cibulkova willed herself through another comeback. Now the 27-year-old will play her biggest match since reaching the Australian Open final in 2014.

Cibulkova lost that match to Li Na; is she destined to lose this one to Kerber? History says: Probably. Kerber leads their head to head by a narrow 5-4 margin, but she has won their last five meetings, including a round-robin encounter in Singapore earlier in the week. That was a tight and well-played match all the way, with Kerber sneaking through the first set in a tiebreaker, 7-5. And the last few games of the third set featured some of the best baseline hitting of the year from both women. This time, much will depend on Cibulkova’s ability to control the middle of the court, and to make her putaway shots whenever she gets them. You know Kerber will pose the questions; it will be up to Domi to provide the answers, over and over again. After a long week of tennis, and a long semifinal, that’s going to be a lot to ask.

Winner: Kerber