The Baseline Top 5: Important finals for Svitolina, Stephens

Playing for some of the most prestigious titles on the WTA Tour has somewhat become the norm for Elina Svitolina and Sloane Stephens the past two seasons. The two players brought their major-tournament experience to the WTA Finals and progressed to the championship match, which was won by Svitolina in three set on Sunday.

It’s the biggest title of the Ukrainian’s career, while Stephens was playing in her fourth final of the year.

Here’s a look at some of the career-defining finals each of them have played since 2017.

1

Svitolina, 2017 Dubai

Seeded seventh at the tournament, Svitolina’s ascent up the rankings began here at this Premier 5 event with a straight-sets win over Caroline Wozniacki in the final.

2

Stephens, 2017 US Open

Entering the tournament ranked No. 83 in the world, Stephens shook up the tennis world by claiming her first Grand Slam with a win over her friend Madison Keys in the final.

3

Stephens, Miami 2018

With her lone title of 2018, Stephens “cemented” herself as one of the tour’s best on hard courts by defeating Jelena Ostapenko in a matchup between 2017 Grand Slam winners.

4

Svitolina, Rome 2018

One of the top contenders for the 2018 French Open was Svitolina, who prior to the year’s second Grand Slam, just defended her title at the Italian Open with a win over Simona Halep in the final.

5

Stephens, French Open 2018

Prior to this year’s tournament, the French Open was the only Slam Stephens hadn’t gotten past the fourth round, having advanced that far four times in her career. The American broke that mark by making it to her second Slam final in three tournaments, falling to Halep in three sets.

With Svitolina winning Singapore, it marks the fourth year in a row that a Slam-less player captured the title. It also means that Svitolina ends the year at No. 4, two spots ahead of Stephens.

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