Photo credit: WTA / Ashok Kumar
The lights on Centre Court dim to a purplish-blue glow as the air pulsates with a countdown from ten to one. The spectators count along, their voices escalating with each descending number. The finals match is the culmination of a week of intense competition, and the anticipation is palpable.
The Singapore Tennis Open (STO) 2025 marks the return of world-class women’s tennis to Singapore. It has been seven years since the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global receded from our shores after being staged here for five years. This WTA 250 tournament reinstates Singapore on the WTA Tour calendar – a move made possible with the opening of the Kallang Tennis Hub in 2024.
Singles Inferno
In the 32-player singles draw, the last two left standing are Elise Mertens (Belgium) and Ann Li (USA). As Li strides first into the spotlight, followed by Mertens, the crowd erupts into applause. Ranked No. 85, Li is clearly the underdog taking on the world No. 32 and second seed of the tournament, an experienced player who had – three weeks earlier – made the finals of the Hobart International. Defeated there in three sets, Mertens is understandably hungry to win a title here.
But Li has not dropped a single set in Singapore, having overcome Daria Saville, Maria Timofeeva and Kimberly Birrell in straight sets, even taking a tiebreak set off top seed Anna Kalinskaya before the Russian retired from the semifinals match with an upper right thigh injury. Mertens herself has taken down Taylor Townsend, Tatjana Maria, Camila Osorio and Wang Xinyu to lock her spot in the finals.
This is the first meeting between the two and anything is possible.
In the first set, a battle-seasoned Mertens breaks Li twice to take an early 4-0 lead. But in the fifth game, the underdog, having calmed her nerves, delivers four explosive serves to put herself on the scoreboard. The crowd cheers Li on, but Mertens responds with a crisp love game and eventually takes the first set with a convincing 6-1 margin.
The second set begins with a break and a hold, with the Belgian going up 2-0 over the American. It is in the third game that Li starts to reassert herself. She breaks, holds and levels the score at 2-2, then
keeps pace with Mertens, with her clean ball strikes and baseline winners, to reach four games apiece.
Photo credit: WTA / Ashok Kumar
Mertens responds with a break in the ninth game. Then pumping herself up with a string of “come on!” battle cries, fist pumps and guttural grunts, she powers herself to championship point. As Li drives a forehead into the net, Mertens buries her face in her hands and sinks to her knees, forehead to floor, her body shaking with emotions. It has been 17 months since she won her last title at the Jasmin Open Monastir in October 2023. The wait is finally over! She has secured a 6-1 6-4 victory over Li in 82 minutes and now lifts her ninth career singles title.
Photo credit: WTA / Ashok Kumar
Reflecting on her performance, Mertens says, “I could feel her coming into the match and I said to myself, ‘I’m a set up [while] she has to win this set, so I shouldn’t panic’ – that has how I was thinking. At 5-4, I knew it was all or nothing! I just focused on my serving game, and I think I did that well.”
And statistics will back her claim: Mertens won 75 percent of her first serve points. “The surface helped me really well with the serve, not just today but the whole week,” she says. “I felt very comfortable in Singapore, so I took advantage of that, and it gave me a lot of good energy.”
Doubles Standard
The earlier doubles’ finals match was an adrenaline-pumping showdown between the No. 2 seeds Desirae Krawczyk (USA) and Giuliana Olmos (Mexico) and the No. 3 seeds, China’s Wang Xinyu and Zheng Saisai. While the former enjoyed a walkover in the semifinals when Dart/Lumsden withdrew, the Chinese pair had to battle past Hibino/Kalashnikova the night before – and that match was played right after Wang’s singles semifinal loss to Mertens.
Whether it was the luxury of more downtime or otherwise, Krawczyk/Olmos took off to a comfortable 3-0 lead. But the Chinese girls would not be hastily dismissed. Fuelled by an army of vocal Chinese fans, Wang/Zheng upped their game a notch, firing a series of winners to bag four games in a row and push ahead for the first time at 4-3.
Photo credit: WTA / Ashok Kumar
With the score inching from 4-4 to 5-5, there was no margin for error. But in the crucial 11th game, Krawczyk/Olmos managed a break of serve and promptly took the first set 7-5. From that point on, they were relentless, breezing to a 7-5 6-0 win over Wang/Zheng in just 73 minutes.
Reflecting on the first set, Krawczyk says, “There was a momentum shift and that gave us a sense of urgency: we needed to also step up our game. We just focused on ourselves, and I think we both played very aggressive from the baseline and from the net.”
Olmos adds, “[When] it got tight, we just stuck to our game plan: executing balls and not giving any free points away. There were a lot of good points, it was high level. So, in the second set, we knew we couldn’t let go and it was just full throttle!”
The victory is all the sweeter because they are best friends. “We enjoy being on court together, having fun and just competing hard. When we do that, we just bring out our best tennis!” says Krawczyk, adding that they plan to celebrate their victory with a Singapore Sling at the Raffles Hotel’s Long Bar.
Photo credit: WTA / Ashok Kumar
Meet, Play, Love
The STO 2025, which ran from 27 January to 2 February, was not just about Centre Court action. While it saw sold-out matches, it also drew in crowds to the Kallang Tennis Hub with fringe activities like game booths, players meet-and-greet sessions at the Fan Village, and the Singapore Tennis Invitational Cup, which saw mixed teams from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Cambodia vie for the trophy. Kallang came alive as a fairground for families and friends, not just tennis fans.
For the WTA players, it was not just the event’s organisation, facilities and hospitality that impressed, but also the crowd energy and the spectators who packed the stands, even during the Lunar New Year. “It’s nice to have a full stadium with so many fans; we don’t get that as much in other tournaments,” says Olmos. “It’s a great atmosphere for us and we’re really grateful for it.”
Many players also welcomed the inclusion of Singapore on the WTA Tour schedule. “We’ve never been to Singapore, we always wanted to come, but there was never a tournament here,” says Krawczyk. “So, when we saw the schedule last year, we said ‘let’s go!’ – we had a whole itinerary planned out.”
For Mertens, it was her second time in Singapore, having qualified for the WTA Finals with doubles partner Demi Schuurs in 2018. “The city is amazing!” she says during the victory ceremony, where she was handed the champion’s trophy by Minister of Culture Community and Youth Edwin Tong. “Such great memories and great energy! I can’t wait to be back next year.”
Photo credit: Pam Ho
