Porsche Race to the WTA Finals: Barty, Sabalenka and Krejcikova already qualified
The WTA has announced the first three fixed participants for the WTA Finals. However, there still seems to be a question mark behind Ashleigh Barty's line-up.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Sep 22, 2021, 07:41 pm
Defending champion Ashleigh Barty, Aryna Sabalenka and Barbora Krejcikova have been confirmed as the first participants in the WTA Finals in 2021. The WTA announced on Monday.
Barty has already won five tournaments this year, including the Miami Open, the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and of course Wimbledon. Most recently she won in Cincinnati. Sabalenka is qualified for the year-end tournament for the first time, at least in singles - she was already there in doubles in 2019. Sabalenka has won two tournaments this year, and she was also in the semi-finals at Wimbledon and the US Open.
Also there is French Open surprise winner Barbora Krejcikova. She is also in the doubles competition, together with Katerina Siniakova. Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara are also already qualified for this.
WTA Finals: Kerber with 500 points behind
Karolina Pliskova, Iga Swiatek, Maria Sakkari, Naomi Osaka and Garbine Muguruza, who would now complete the top 8, are also well in the running. US Open sensation winner Emma Raducanu is listed in 14th place, Angelique Kerber is in 16th place - she currently lacks around 500 points for eighth place, so everything is still possible here.
It still seems questionable whether Barty will actually travel to the WTA Finals. The tournament is actually based in Shenzhen, but this year it will take place in Guadalajara / Mexico .
Does Barty even play the WTA Finals?
Barty's coach Craig Tyzzer recently told the Australian press that it had only just discovered that the tournament would be played at an altitude of 1,500 meters and pressureless balls would be used. "Under conditions that the players don't know, in a country they haven't played in and at this altitude ... That just feels ridiculous," said Tyzzer.
Barty had won the WTA Finals in their first edition in Shenzhen in 2019, before the unofficial World Championship had been held in Singapore.