Four of the Top 10 seeds and a field LOADED with floaters…The Top 2 seeds receive opening-round byes…Interesting openers for (1) Muguruza vs. the veteran Bertens, (7) Goerges vs. Stosur (winner to meet Gavrilova), (3) Ostapenko vs. Makarova, (6) Stephens vs. (Q) Giorgi (winner to meet Kvitova), (4) Konta vs. Radwanska, (8) Sevastova vs. Cibulkova, and (2) Williams vs. the Safarova/Kerber winner…

In the end it was a year best summarized by Serena Williams getting pregnant and Maria Williams getting busted for doping.

37-year-old Venus Williams seeks a second WTA finals titles and overall the 50th of her career.

The WTA Championships semifinals are set.

Who’ll get the final berth in the Singapore semifinals?

“It was so quick,” Svitolina said of the final four games. “I missed my chances. I cannot change them…My game was completely off.”

Karolina Pliskova is the first player to reach the semifinals at the WTA Finals.

Day two at the WTA Finals featured two beatdowns.

Next year will likely return to dominance by Serena, Maria or both. But this week we’re stuck with the also-rans vying for both a coveted year-end championship and a year-end No. 1 ranking. It’s being spun as the next generation taking over, but due to pregnancy, doping and injuries, it’s some youngsters getting a shot because the best players are sidelined.

“I’m super happy to be in a Grand Slam final,” Stephens said. “To do it here, obviously, my home Slam, is obviously more special. I think this is what every player dreams about.”

The US Open semifinals is the just the sixth time in the Open Era all four women will be from the U.S.A.

“This match meant a lot to me, obviously, playing at home and of course it being a major,” Venus said.

Karolina Pliskova is the lone top seed to make the US Open quarterfinals.

“When I started playing again at Wimbledon and D.C., I didn’t expect much,” Stephens said. “I was just playing and having fun, having a good time. I’m still playing and having a good time. That’s really all there is to it.”

The women’s fourth round gets underway Sunday at the US Open with four Grand Slam winners.