Game, set, world-class match-ups

World's top women tennis players start final showdown of 2022 in North Texas

The top 8 singles players posed with the trophy at Fort Worth's Hotel Drover.

Photo courtesy of WTA

UPDATE 11-5-2022: The semifinalists are set. All semifinal matches take place Sunday, November 6 at Dickies Arena. The schedule is:

Day Session - 1:30 pm start:
(1) Barbora Krejcikova (Czech Republic) & Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic) vs (5) Lyudmyla Kichenok (Ukraine) & Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia)
Not before 3:30 pm:
(5) Maria Sakkari (Greece) vs (6) Caroline Garcia (France)

Night Session - 7 pm start:
(1) Iga Swiatek (Poland) vs (7) Aryna Sabalenka
Followed by:
(4) Veronika Kudermetova & Elise Mertens (Belgium) vs (8) Desirae Krawczyk (USA) & Demi Schuurs (Netherlands)

More information is here and tickets are here.

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It's not as famous as Wimbledon or the US Open, but the WTA Finals will crown a new queen of the women's pro tennis tour in North Texas this week - and all are invited to court.

For the first time, Fort Worth hosts the prestigious year-end finale for the WTA, featuring the top eight singles players and doubles teams in the world. Singles players vying for title, and their rankings, are:

No. 1 Iga Swiatek (Poland)
No. 2 Ons Jabeur (Tunisia)
No 3 Jessica Pegula (United States)
No. 4 Coco Gauff (United States)
No. 5 Maria Sakkari (Greece)
No. 6 Caroline Garcia (France)
No. 7 Aryna Sabalenka*
No. 8 Daria Kasatkina*

U.S. superstars Gauff and Pegula are also competing in doubles.

The "round robin"-style competition will take place October 31-November 7 at Dickies Arena, and tickets start at $20.

The prestigious year-end finale has been moved to Fort Worth from Shenzhen, China, for one year only, WTA officials say. It's the first time the contest has been staged in North Texas, and the first time it's in the United States in 17 years. The total prize money pool is $5 million.

Players assembled at Fort Worth's Hotel Drover for a celebration and "draw party" on Friday, October 28. (More on the groupings, draws, and prize money each player picks up throughout each round here.)

Each day in the first rounds, play starts at 3 pm, and both singles and doubles matches will be played. Friday through Sunday, play begins at 1:30 pm. The finals in both doubles and singles will take place at 5:30 pm and 8 pm respectively, Monday, November 7.

The initial order of play, on October 31 and November 1 is:

Monday, October 31
3 pm:
(1) Barbora Krejcikova (Czech Republic) & Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic) vs (8) Desirae Krawczyk (USA) & Demi Schuurs (Netherlands)
Not before 5 pm:
(3) Jessica Pegula (USA) vs (5) Maria Sakkari (Greece)
Not before 7 pm:
(2) Ons Jabeur (Tunisia) vs (7) Aryna Sabalenka
Followed by:
(3) Coco Gauff (USA) & Jessica Pegula (USA) vs (6) Yifan Xu (China) & Zhaoxuan Yang (China)

Tuesday, November 1
3 pm:
(4) Veronika Kudermetova & Elise Mertens (Belgium) vs (5) Lyudmyla Kichenok (Ukraine) & Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia)
Not Before 5 pm:
(1) Iga Swiatek (Poland) vs (8) Daria Kasatkina
Not before 7 pm:
(4) Coco Gauff (USA) vs (6) Caroline Garcia (France)
Followed by:
(2) Gabriela Dabrowski (Canada) & Giuliana Olmos (Mexico) vs (7) Anna Danilina (Kazakhstan) & Beatriz Haddad Maia (Brazil)

"I’m super excited to be in the finals," says top-ranked Swiatek. "I feel like it’s a celebration of what we’ve done in the past year. I’m just proud to be here."

The eyes of the tennis world will be on DFW, too. According to NBC5, the matches will be broadcast in 160 countries to a projected viewing audience of 900 million people. Find coverage at tennischannel.com.

To keep up with the tournament, follow WTA on Facebook or visit the website.

(*Per WTA style, players native to Russia and Belarus do not have their country listed.)

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UPDATES per WTA:

Order of play for Wednesday, November 2 is:

Singles Nancy Richey Group • Doubles Rosie Casals Group
3 pm start:
(1) Barbora Krejcikova (Czech Republic) & Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic) vs (6) Yifan Xu (China) & Zhaoxuan Yang (China)
Not before 5 pm:
(2) Ons Jabeur (Tunisia) vs (3) Jessica Pegula (USA)
Not before 7 pm:
(5) Maria Sakkari (Greece) vs (7) Aryna Sabalenka
Followed by:
(3) Coco Gauff (USA) & Jessica Pegula (USA) vs (8) Desirae Krawczyk (USA) & Demi Schuurs (Netherlands)

What happens now in singles:

Sakkari advances if she wins in straight sets Wednesday (Position in group tbd)

If Sakkari and Pegula win Wednesday, Sakkari advances as group winner and Jabeur is eliminated. (Pegula and Sabalenka would play for second spot Friday)

If Sabalenka and Jabeur win Wednesday, Sabalenka advances as group winner and Pegula is eliminated. (Sakkari and Jabeur would play for second spot Friday)

Pegula is eliminated if she loses in straight sets Wednesday

Any other combination of results will mean advancement comes down to the final matches.

What happens now in doubles:

Krejcikova & Siniakova advance if they win in straight sets Wednesday (Position in group tbd)

If Krejcikova & Siniakova and Krawczyk & Schuurs win Wednesday, Krejcikova & Siniakova advance as group winner and Gauff & Pegula is eliminated. (Krawczyk & Schuurs and Xu & Yang would play for second spot Friday)

If Xu & Yang and Gauff & Pegula win Wednesday, Xu & Yang advance as group winner and Krawczyk & Schuurs are eliminated. (Krejcikova & Siniakova and Gauff & Pegula would play for second spot Friday)

Krawczyk & Schuurs is eliminated if they lose in straight sets Wednesday

Any other combination of results will mean advancement comes down to the final matches.

Order of play for Thursday, November 3 is:

3 pm start:
(2) Gabriela Dabrowski (Canada) & Giuliana Olmos (Mexico) vs (5) Lyudmyla Kichenok (Ukraine) & Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia)
Not Before 5 pm:
(1) Iga Swiatek (Poland) vs vs (6) Caroline Garcia (France)
Not before 7 pm:
(4) Coco Gauff (USA) vs (8) Daria Kasatkina
Followed by: (4) Veronika Kudermetova & Elise Mertens (Belgium) vs (7) Anna Danilina (Kazakhstan) & Beatriz Haddad Maia (Brazil)

Round robin advancement scenarios in singles for Thursday:

If Swiatek and Kasatkina win, Swiatek advances as group winner, Gauff is eliminated (Kasatkina and Garcia would play for the No.2 spot on Saturday)

If Swiatek wins in straight sets and Gauff wins in three sets, Swiatek advances (position tbd)

If Garcia and Gauff win, Garcia advances as group winner, Kasatkina is eliminated (Gauff and Swiatek play for the No.2 spot on Saturday)

If Garcia wins in straight sets and Kasatkina wins in three sets, Garcia advances (position tbd)

Any other combination of results will mean qualification comes down to final matches.

Round robin scenarios in doubles for Thursday:

Danilina & Haddad Maia advance if they win in straight sets Thursday (Position in group tbd)

If Danilina & Haddad Maia and Dabrowski & Olmos win Thursday, Danilina & Haddad Maia advance as group winner and Kichenok & Ostapenko are eliminated. (Dabrowski & Olmos and Kudermetova & Mertens would play for second spot Saturday)

If Kudermetova & Mertens and Kichenok & Ostapenko win Thursday, Kudermetova & Mertens advance as group winner and Dabrowski & Olmos is eliminated. (Danilina & Haddad Maia and Kichenok & Ostapenko would play for second spot Saturday)

Dabrowski & Olmos is eliminated if they lose in straight sets Thursday.

Any other combination of results will mean qualification comes down to the final matches.

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UPDATES 11-4-2022:

Order of Play:

Friday, November 4
Singles Nancy Richey Group • Doubles Rosie Casals Group
Day Session - 1:30 pm Start
(6) Yifan Xu (China) & Zhaoxuan Yang (China) vs (8) Desirae Krawczyk (USA) & Demi Schuurs (Netherlands)
Not before 3:30 pm:
(3) Jessica Pegula (USA) vs (7) Aryna Sabalenka
Night Session - 7 pm Start
(2) Ons Jabeur (Tunisia) vs (5) Maria Sakkari (Greece)
Followed by:
(1) Barbora Krejcikova (Czech Republic) & Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic) vs (3) Coco Gauff (USA) & Jessica Pegula (USA)

Rosie Casals Doubles Group Standings & Advancement Scenarios: Krejcikova & Siniakova have won the group. The winner Friday between Krawczyk & Schuurs and Xu & Yang will claim the second position. Gauff & Pegula cannot advance.

Saturday, November 5
Singles Tracy Austin Group • Doubles Pam Shriver Group
Day Session - 1:30 pm start
(5) Lyudmyla Kichenok (Ukraine) & Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia) vs (7) Anna Danilina (Kazakhstan) & Beatriz Haddad Maia (Brazil)
Not before 3:30 pm:
(6) Caroline Garcia (France) vs (8) Daria Kasatkina
Night Session - 7 pm start
(1) Iga Swiatek (Poland) vs (4) Coco Gauff (USA)
Followed by:
(2) Gabriela Dabrowski (Canada) & Giuliana Olmos (Mexico) vs (4) Veronika Kudermetova & Elise Mertens (Belgium)

Tracy Austin Singles Group Advancement Scenarios:
Swiatek has won the group. The winner Friday between Garcia and Kasatkina will claim the second position. Gauff cannot advance.

To keep up with the tournament, follow WTA on Facebook or visit the website.

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Movie Review

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck team up for Netflix crime thriller The Rip

Photo by Claire Folger/Netflix

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon in The Rip.

For as closely tied together as Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are, it might come as a surprise how few times they’ve led a movie together. They’ve appeared alongside each other in Good Will Hunting, The Last Duel, and Air, but the only time they were on equal footing in a story was Kevin Smith’s Dogma. So the fact that they are the two true stars of the new Netflix movie The Rip makes it a rare opportunity for the longtime friends to square off against each other.

Damon and Affleck play Lt. Dane Dumars and Detective Sgt. J.D Byrne, respectively, the two highest ranking members of a Miami police department squad that specializes in drug and drug money raids. A tragedy to begin the film already has the team - which includes Detectives Mike Ro (Steven Yeun), Numa Baptiste (Teyana Taylor), and Lolo Salazar (Catalina Sandina Moreno) - on edge, with the FBI and DEA breathing down their neck.

Going off a tip, Dumars gathers the team to raid a house in nearby Hialeah that is supposed to have a stash of a relatively small amount of money. But when they get to the house occupied only by Desiree Molina (Sasha Calle), they soon discover that there’s close to $20 million there instead. The team, required by law to count the money on site, must not only fight the urge to skim a little off the top for themselves, but also worry about the Cartel and other agencies that might want a slice of the pie.

Written and directed by Joe Carnahan, the film is a surprisingly effective crime thriller made even better by its high-quality cast, which also includes Kyle Chandler as a DEA agent. The story is designed for the audience to not know who’s trustworthy until the last possible second, and the various twists and turns it takes are well done, with barely a hint of narrative cheating.

Taking place entirely at night, the mood is set right from the start, with the only surprise being that Carnahan didn’t add in rain for extra effect. He keeps things tense with a number of subtle elements, including having the house located in a seemingly deserted cul-de-sac. This allows for the characters to remain on high alert at all times, with anything out of the ordinary - an unexpected noise, a flashing light, etc. - adding to the stress of the situation.

The only element that could have used a bit more of a punch-up is the characterization. The story is set up to cast suspicion on almost everybody, making it tougher to understand exactly what type of person each of them is. As the two leads, more time is spent with Dumars and Byrne, leaving everyone else with slightly underwhelming arcs. It’s to the credit of the actors that everyone else below Damon and Affleck is still compelling.

Damon and Affleck play their sometimes friendly, sometimes adversarial roles well, showing an ease together that’s a result of their friendship and the acting skills they’ve honed over 30+ years. Taylor, an Oscar hopeful for One Battle After Another, and Oscar nominee/Emmy winner Yeun have a pedigree that elevates their supporting roles. Chandler, Moreno, and Calle each get just enough to demonstrate why they were cast in their respective roles.

Damon and Affleck have had their individual ups and downs throughout their careers, but when they choose to work together, the results are usually good-to-great, as they are in The Rip. It’s a different take on a crime thriller that features a story that will keep viewers guessing until the very end.

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The Rip is now streaming on Netflix.

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