A Chance to Shine

Perhaps I don't cover the WTA 125K events as much as I should, but when you look at what's going on at this week's tournaments, you really get a glimpse of some of the players who could become big factors on the main Tour in the months and years to come.

Let's start in Taipei, where previous champions Kristina Mladenovic and Alison Van Uytvanck have certainly scored some big wins since. This year top seeds Anna-Lena Friedsam and Luksika Kumkhum have so far lived up to expectations, but there are a couple others also making a stand. Russia's Vitalia Diatchenko had picked up a couple ITF titles already this year before she stunned top Moscow seed Dominika Cibulkova in their Kremlin Cup opener. This week, a hair off a career high ranking of #105 which she achieved some five years ago, she's dropped just a handful of games to veteran Melinda Czink and China's Ying-Ying Duan. She'll face off against Kumkhum next,but might just have the momentum to pull off an upset. And Poland's Magda Linette, fresh off her biggest title at a 125K event in Ningbo last week, opened her week in Taipei with a straight set win over Tadeja Majeric. Next up she gets a rematch of Sunday's final against Qiang Wang, so she should have confidence on her side. If she pulls off the win she might be able to end the year with quite an impressive winning streak.

There's arguably a little more star power on the courts of the inaugural Open GDF Suez de Limoges, with former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone and heavyweights like Monica Niculescu and Caroline Garcia all in the draw. But it's a couple lesser-known names that may have a bigger opportunity in France. Netherlands' Richel Hogenkamp just broke into the top hundred-fifty this week, but she's had some encouraging results earlier in the year -- she beat Yanina Wickmayer at an ITF event in May and picked up a trophy in Clermont-Ferrand in September. The twenty-two year old has yet to qualify for a Major, but with wins this week over veteran Lourdes Dominguez Lino and seventh-seed Stefanie Voegele she might be ready to change that. And Tereza Smitkova, who quietly sneaked her way into the fourth round at Wimbledon has cut her ranking from sub-#200 to start the year to #83 now. Unseeded in Limoges, she opened with a straight set win over on-the-mend Urzsula Radwanska and earlier today came back from a set down to upset Belgium's Van Uytvanck. With world #20 Alizé Cornet pulling out of the event and Niculescu losing her opener, the Czech won't meet another seed until at least the quarters, and that could be just the chance she needs.

The events on the WTA 125K circuit might not have the highest stakes, but for all the ladies involved, they sure are a great opportunity to pick up some always-appreciated match experience, a couple ranking points and, in some cases, perhaps a title or two. And these rising stars in particular might just use their wins in these weeks to springboard to a whole new level in their careers.

Eleventh Hour Surge

The 2014 WTA season is close to wrapping up, but that hasn't stopped a couple young and largely unknown players from making some big statements at the last events of the year. And while they might not all be able to ultimately bring home the trophies, a couple might have successfully put their names on the map to stay.

More than a couple seeds had trouble gaining traction in Luxembourg, with German favorite Andrea Petkovic falling in the first round and several others not doing much better. Wimbledon Cinderella Barbora Zahlavova Strycova was one of just two seeds to reach the quarterfinals, and the only one to make it farther. A lot of that upheaval came at the hands of young Denisa Allertova, a young Czech who, at #145 in the world, is only a hair off her career high ranking. She has had quite a year on the ITF Tour though, picking up seven titles on that circuit this year, notching wins over the likes of Ksenia Pervak, Andrea Hlavackova and Lesia Tsurenko. She still had to qualify for Luxembourg, but she really made the most of her entry -- after stunning former All England runner-up Sabine Lisicki in the second round, she followed up by taking out fifth seed Varvara Lepchenko one match later. She finally ran out of steam today, winning just a game off Annika Beck in the semis, but with such a strong finish to the season, I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot more of her in the next.

Meanwhile in Moscow another couple upstarts caused a stir. Australian Open runner-up Dominika Cibulkova had a Singapore alternate ticket in her sites, and all she needed was one more win to secure her spot. But Vitalia Diatchenko had other plans -- playing in her hometown, the Russian qualifier held strong after losing the first set and took out the recent top ten star in the second round. She even pushed compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to the limit today, forcing the sixth seed to three sets before ultimately losing their quarterfinal meeting. Another qualifier, though, had slightly better luck -- Katerina Siniakova, who'd only won one main draw match at the WTA level all year, followed a one-sided defeat of Elena Vesnina in her opener by slaying this season's giant-killer Kristina Mladenkovic. Earlier today she came back from a set down against rising star Camila Giorgi to reach her first career semifinal. She'll meet Pavs for a spot in the final, certainly no easy challenge, but the way she's playing, there's no reason we can't see her pull off yet another upset.

Sure, at this point these ladies' efforts may seem like "too little, too late," but some big results as they close out 2014 could give them real momentum as they prep for the new year. After all we've seen plenty of big talent emerge this season, and if this week's standouts can keep it up, they might just be the highlights of 2015 too.