The second rotation of the Wta Finals' group stages is set to start today. The White Group that consist from Venus Williams, Jelena Ostapenko, Karolina Pliskova and Garbine Muguruza is scheduled to lead the action during the day. William will take on the young Latvian Ostapenko while Pliskova will face Garbine Muguruza in what may be a make or break world No. 1.

The first encounter is set to have more drama attached to it as whoever loses today can pretty much start packing the suitcase for a ride home. Both Venus and Ostapenko lost their opening matches in straight sets which shrank their chances to go deeper into the contest.

Venus Williams deserves credit for consistency, especially at Grand Slams

At 37 years of age, the American tennis star is far from being done and dusted. Two decades after playing her first Grand Slam final (1997 US Open) she remains a danger in this area. She is the only one who has made into two different Grand Slam finals ( Australian Open, Wimbledon) and also the sole name who appeared on three different Major semifinals. Her bid at 2017 US Open came to an end as an inspired Sloane Stephens edged her in three sets.

Returning for the WTA Finals after a long break, Venus Williams failed to deliver in the opening match as she had no response to a perfect game from Karolina Pliskova. Now, she will be playing a crucial match knowing that another straight sets defeat will most certainly end her run in Singapore.

There is a silver lining though as Venus has won the previous and only match over the 20-year-old Latvian earlier this year at Wimbledon.

Jelena Ostapenko and her first journey to Singapore

At 20 years o age, she has had a perfect season. She went on to win the 2017 French Open title after producing a surreal comeback in that final against the current world No. 1 Simona Halep.

She backed that up with a quarterfinal presence at Wimbledon, and despite having a strange summer, she bounced back in Asia winning the title in Seoul and reaching the semis both in Wuhan and Beijing.

In what was a poor outcome for the first-timers in Singapore, Ostapenko lost in straight sets to Garbine Muguruza which makes her task even harder today.

She must win at least a set against Venus in order to keep her chances alive for the week.

Given the current state of the top 10, a deep run in Singapore would propel Ostapenko even higher. Moreover, she won't have that much to defend up until the 2018 French Open which means that she will turn into a world No. 1 contender sooner than some people may think.
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