WTA250 Singapore: Ann Li vs Elise Mertens final analysis
A perfect first set followed by a big serving performance in the second set lifted Mertens to a 9th career Tour title
The inaugural Singapore Tennis Open championship match was a clash between players enjoying recent Tour success. They were just missing a title.
Second seed Elise Mertens (WTA #34) was already playing in her second final of 2025, after a season debut runner-up finish at her beloved Hobart — where she won her first two WTA titles in 2017 and 2018 and has reached the final four times.
With an overall 8-6 record in career singles finals, the former doubles #1 was looking for her first winner’s trophy since October 2023 at WTA 250 Monastir.
Unseeded Ann Li (WTA #84) lost the WTA 250 Mérida title decider during the last week of the regular 2024 WTA season, so this was her second final in her last 5 Tour events played.
The 24-year old American entered the match with a unique 1-1-1 record in finals, after the aforementioned Mérida defeat, triumph at 2021 WTA 250 Tenerife and a non-decision that same year at the Melbourne Grampians Trophy. On that occasion, a Covid-19 case at a quarantine hotel put the tournament’s schedule in total disarray. With the semi-finals only taking place on the eve of the 2021 Australian Open start, the match between Li and Anett Kontaveit that would decide the champion was called off.
Fortunately, life has since returned to normal and the 2025 Singapore Open final went ahead as scheduled.
Mertens was more than ready for it and made a flying start.
The Belgian hit a line backhand winner from the alley on the very first point of the match and did the same five points later to secure an initial break.
📺 source: WTA Tv
Mertens’ early backhand accuracy contrasted with Li’s struggles from that wing. These 3 consecutive missed backhands left the American a double-break behind.
Following a flawless set of tennis, Mertens clinched the opener by a 6-1 score in 26 minutes.
Her impeccable consistency was perfectly reflected on a non-existent error count: she had just 1 unforced error (!!) and 4 total misses in 37 points played, against 13 and 20 from Li, respectively.
Almost all of the difference in the set originated from very distant backhand performances. Mertens’ +2 differential from 3 backhand winners with a single error was 13 points better than Li’s -11, from 2 winners and 13 errors (9 of those unforced).
Backhand Performances Set 1
Li: 2 winners / 9 unforced + 4 forced errors = -11
Mertens: 3 winners / 1 forced error = +2
Forehand Performances Set 1
Li: 3 winners / 3 unforced + 3 forced errors = -3
Mertens: 2 winners / 1 unforced + 2 forced errors = -1
If the first set was a breeze, the second set began with 3 hotly contested games that lasted 38 points and 29 minutes.
Mertens’ level dropped not only because it was virtually impossible to continue finding the court with all her shots — she started the set with a double fault and a forehand unforced error in the first 4 points — but also because she became more passive from the baseline. Still, Mertens’ superior experience showed when she emerged with yet another 2-0 lead, after erasing 2 break points in the opening game of the second set and 2 more game points in the following game.
The Belgian’s gameplan for the first set had been to serve to Li’s forehand and rally to the backhand. It continued that way for the rest of the match, so Li became a lot more active hunting run-around forehands once the second set started.
Even though Li’s efforts and improvements didn’t show on the score at first, rallies like the ones shown here, ending on 1 inside-in and 2 inside-out winners, fed her confidence.
Li was finally rewarded when she outlasted Mertens in this 14-shot rally to grab her first break of the match.
The American levelled at 2-2 with 2 more forehand winners and a love hold in the 4th game. She was now dictating most of the rallies.
But Mertens never gave her another opening. Fom 2-2 until the end, the Belgian served incredibly well. With a superb mix of accuracy and pace, Mertens delivered 9 unreturned serves in her last 14 serve points (65%) while completing 3 comfortable serve holds.
With the benefit of serving first in the second set and never trailing in the match, Mertens regained her aggressiveness at the closing stages of the set. Li responded with 2 more forehand winners at 3-4, for a big hold to 30.
But the American wasn’t so efficient when serving to stay in the match, 2 games later. First, she made 2 backhand errors that took the score to 4-5 30/30.
Then Mertens reached championship point after covering the court from side to side in the longest rally of the contest (22 shots).
Ironically for Li, the final ended with her second consecutive inside-in forehand error.
Despite those last 2 misses, it is undeniable that Li’s ability to hit more run-around forehands and create something with them was the driving force that made the second set a lot more competitive.
As a result, Li’s forehand production saw a significant bump from 4 winning shots in set 1 to 12 in set 2, as shown in the table below. Even her groundstroke numbers from the backhand wing got better by 4 points, including 2 more winning shots (2→4) plus 2 fewer unforced errors (9→7).
So Li ended the second set with 10 more winners (17 to 7) and a +2 differential between winners and unforced errors that was 6 points better than Mertens’ -4.
These numbers provide great context to understand how crucial it was for Mertens to establish a 13-2 advantage in serves that forced return errors during set 2.
Overall, Mertens finished the Singapore final with some fantastic serving stats:
a 20-8 advantage in unreturned serves
46% of unreturned 1st serves (18/39)
75% 1st serves made (39/52)
74% 1st serves won (29/39)
88% serve games won (7/8)
As Mertens celebrated a 9th WTA Tour title in Singapore, it was quite intriguing to see her find some extra pop on her serve while playing with a new racquet.
Just like recent Australian Open champion Madison Keys, Mertens is a 29-year old now playing with a Yonex frame…!
Ann Li (WTA #84) vs Elise Mertens (WTA #34, seed 2)
2025 Singapore final - Match Data
Strategy Stats
Points won by rally length
Rally length
Strokes Breakdown
Winners and Errors (returns and rally shots)
Direction of winning shots and unforced errors (only groundstrokes)
Serve and Return
2nd Serves
Return & rallying performance
Points won breakdown
This final section gives a last, broader look at the match by presenting how each player won points. Points are listed according to their frequency (highest to lowest) and are named in relation to the last touch on the ball. For simplicity, groundstrokes hit from the 5th shot onwards are grouped together.
Breakdown by side (FHs or BHs)
Breakdown by error type (UFEs or FEs)
To find out more about the stats published here, please visit the following post.
While we follow the same criteria used on all major tennis events, our stats are collected through our own video analysis and are not official WTA or ITF stats.
Thanks for reading!
— Tennis Inside Numbers