The 2024 WTA Finals will showcase the world's top-eight women's singles players and doubles teams. This year’s standout players will fight for the year-end championship held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the first time on November 2-9.
The rules regarding qualification are as follows:
The top seven singles players and doubles teams on the leaderboard will qualify.
The eighth spot is awarded to the highest-ranked Grand Slam winner/winning team ranked No.8 to No.20. However, if no Grand Slam winner qualifies, the next ranked player/team in the rankings will earn progression.
On the singles side, there are currently two qualifiers. Reigning champion and world No.1 Iga Świątek has punched her ticket after a stellar 2024 season which included five titles with another Roland Garros trophy under her belt.
The 23-year-old looks to repeat her feat from last year's WTA Finals in Cancun, where she convincingly beat Jessica Pegula 6-1, 6-0 in the championship match. After the win, she stated: "I would say I wasn't expecting that right now, this season," she admitted. "I was hoping that maybe next year [2024] is gonna be my year, but it seems like just working hard and focusing on the right things at the end worked. So I'm really happy."
No.2 ranked Aryna Sabalenka has also qualified. The Belarusian has won three tiles this year, notably defending her Australian Open crown and winning a maiden US Open title. Świątek and herself are heavy favourites for contention in this year's WTA Finals.
There are six other available spots in the tournament. The current ranking podium in the race is as follows:
No.3 Coco Gauff
No.4 Jasmine Paolini
No.5 Elena Rybakina
No.6 Jessica Pegula
No.7 Qinwen Zheng
No.8 Emma Navarro
However, it is important to note that 2024 Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejčíková is currently No.12, so if she stays within the top-20 she will grab that eighth qualifying spot.
Notably, Rybakina has endured a difficult year parting ways with her long-time coach Stefano Vukov amid rumours of mistreatment by her former mentor.
The former Wimbledon winner has also struggled health-wise, only participating in 13 events this year. Of further concern is that she has either withdrawn or retired from 10 tournaments over the past nine months. She pulled out of the Asian swing of tournaments in the lead-up to the WTA Finals in a bid to be ready for Riyadh.
Five teams have directly qualified on the doubles side, with the tandem of Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jeļena Ostapenko, 2024 US Open women's doubles champions, holding the top spot.
World No.2 Su-Wei Hsieh and Elise Mertens, No.3 ranked and Paris Olympic gold medalists Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini, No.4 pairing Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe and world No.8 Taylor Townsend and Kateřina Siniaková, 2024 Wimbledon champions, round out the teams that have directly qualified.
No.5 ranked Desirae Krawczyk and Caroline Dolehide, No.6 ranked Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Australian Ellen Perez, and No.7 ranked Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova are favourites to clinch the remaining three qualifying spots.
With 20 more days until the WTA Finals, the race is very much still a hot contest as to who will be able to snatch up those last few qualifying spots. The 2024 WTA Finals in Riyadh are sure to captivate the tennis world and round out an intriguing year of tennis before the transition into the 2025 season.
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