TENNIS TUESDAY: Fed Wins 8th Basel, Woz Wins WTA YEC, Venus Wins 2017 $$ Race, Hingis Retires

WOZNIACKI DEFEATS VENUS TO WIN WTA TOUR YEAR-END CHAMPIONSHIP
Caroline Wozniacki won her first WTA Tour Finals championship in surprisingly aggressive style, defeating Venus Williams for the first time (in 8 meetings) 6-4 6-4. The win means that Wozniacki will end the year at World #3 and Venus will be at World #5.

FEDERER BEATS DEL POTRO TO WIN 8TH BASEL TITLE, 7TH IN 2017, 95TH OVERALL
Roger Federer won his 8th Basel title (in 13 finals in his hometown) by defeating Juan Martin del Potro 6-7(3) 6-2 6-3. It was Federer's 7th title in 2017 and he is 49-4 for the year. Those 4 losses ave been to Evgeny Donskoy, Tommy Haas, del Potro  and Sascha Zverev (Cincinnati Masters final). With his win he moved to a clear second on the all-time titles won list with 95, one ahead of Ivan Lendl's 94 and behind Jimmy Connors' 109.

VENUS ENDS 2017 #1 IN PRIZE MONEY
Despite not winning any titles in 2017, Venus reached 2 major finals (Australian Open and Wimbledon) as well as the final match of the year-end championship. Because she was the most consistent at the biggest tournaments of the year, she earned $5,468,741 to end the  year on top of the prize money standings for 2017.

FEDERER CEDES YEAR-END #1 TO NADAL BY WITHDRAWING FROM PARIS MASTERS
Immediately after winning Basel, Federer withdrew from the Paris Masters, which means that Nadal just has to win one match there in order to cement his hold on the World #1 ranking through the end of the year, the fourth time he would have done so (2013, 2010, 2008). Federer has ended the year #1 five times (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009). In other ranking news, 20-year-old Sascha Zverev reached the World #4 ranking.

MARTINA HINGIS RETIRES (FOR THE 3RD TIME) FROM PROFESSIONAL TENNIS
Martina Hingis shocked the tennis world by revealing during the WTA Tour  year-end championships  in Singapore that she intended all year for 2017 to be her last year on the WTA Tour. Hingis retired at age 37 with 43 singles and 64 doubles titles and retired while holding the #1 doubles ranking. She had previously retired in 2003 and 2007. For the last few years she has clearly been the best doubles player in the world. She won 5 major singles titles and 13 major doubles title, including the 2017 US Open.