From worst to best: Ranking 8 WTA Finals 2024 qualifiers based on results in big tournaments this year ft. Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, & Aryna Sabalenka
The 2024 WTA Tour is approaching its conclusion, with the WTA Finals set to begin in about two weeks. Just five tournaments are left to be played in the regular season before the eight best players from 2024 compete in the year-end championships.
The 2024 WTA Finals will be played at the King Saud University Indoor Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from November 2 to 9. The singles and doubles field is now set, with Aryna Sabalenka and Lyudmyla Kichenok-Jelena Ostapenko leading the respective main draws. Eight of the best players/teams have secured their spots in the competition after giving their all at the biggest tournaments.
With that said, here's a ranking of all eight competitors in singles that will feature in the 2024 WTA Finals based on their performances at big tournaments this year.
#8 Barbora Krejcikova
Barbora Krejcikova was nowhere near the required points to qualify for the 2024 WTA Finals. The Czech has 2,814 points to her name this year at the time of writing. However, she secured her place at the tournament for the second time in her career after winning the 2024 Wimbledon Championships. As a Grand Slam champion ranked inside the top 20 at the time of the qualification deadline, Krejcikova edged past Emma Navarro to book her spot in the tournament.
Apart from Wimbledon, the former Roland Garros champion could not do much, primarily due to health issues. This year, she played only three WTA 1000 tournaments and failed to win a match in any of them. Her next best result after her Wimbledon triumph was the quarterfinals at the Australian Open.
#7 Zheng Qinwen
Zheng Qinwen will get her due for a groundbreaking season with a spot at the 2024 WTA Finals. The Chinese No. 1 reached her maiden Grand Slam final at the Australian Open and defended her title at the WTA 250 Palermo Ladies Open. She also reached the US Open quarterfinal for the second year in a row and finished runner-up at the WTA 1000 Wuhan Open.
Zheng's other notable results from 2024 include a semifinal finish at the WTA 1000 China Open and a quarterfinal finish at the WTA 1000 Italian Open. The 22-year-old also won the gold medal at the Paris Olympics. However, the Olympics do not award any ranking points.
#6 Elena Rybakina
Elena Rybakina has done incredibly well to qualify for the WTA Finals in an injury-hampered 2024 season. The Kazakh star has played only 14 tournaments and withdrawn from many more due to injuries. The former Wimbledon champion's biggest successes this year came at the WTA 500 tournaments, where she won all of her three titles this year.
Rybakina emerged victorious at the Brisbane International, Abu Dhabi Open, and Stuttgart Open. In addition, she reached the semifinals at Wimbledon, her best performance at a Grand Slam in 2024, and finished runner-up at the WTA 1000 tournaments in Qatar and Miami.
#5 Coco Gauff
Coco Gauff qualified for the WTA Finals for the second year in a row with consistently high performances at big tournaments. The American youngster quickly brushed her disappointing exit at the US Open aside by picking up her second WTA 1000 title at the 2024 China Open and defended her crowd at the WTA 250 ASB Classic in Auckland.
She also reached the semifinals at the Australian Open and Roland Garros. Gauff reached three more semifinals at the WTA 1000 level (Indian Wells, Rome, and Wuhan).
#4 Jessica Pegula
Jessica Pegula is another top player who suffered a prolonged injury layoff in 2024. The American missed the entire European clay court season, but despite this setback, she qualified for the 2024 WTA Finals on the back of an incredible North American hard-court swing. Pegula won her first title of the year at the WTA 500 Berlin Ladies Open.
After the Paris Olympics, the 30-year-old turned up the heat as she defended her title at the WTA 1000 Canadian Open and finished runner-up at the WTA 1000 Cincinnati Open. Pegula continued her excellent form at the US Open, where she reached her maiden Grand Slam final.
#3 Jasmine Paolini
Jasmine Paolini has arguably been the most improved player on the 2024 WTA Tour. The Italian has qualified for her maiden WTA Finals this year after an incredible season that saw her reach two Grand Slam finals (Wimbledon and Roland Garros) and win her first WTA 1000 title (Dubai Tennis Championships).
Paolini will also be the only player to compete in both singles and doubles at the 2024 WTA Finals. She and her partner Sara Errani are set to feature in the doubles format in Riyadh after finishing runners-up at Roland Garros, winning the WTA 1000 titles in Rome and Beijing, and the WTA 500 title in Linz. Errani and Paolini also won the women's doubles gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
#2 Iga Swiatek
Iga Swiatek has continued to be at her brutal best on the WTA Tour and has shown up on the biggest occasions throughout the season. The Pole, who currently holds the World No. 1 ranking by a narrow margin, will be the defending champion at the WTA Finals and has qualified for the tournament for the third year in a row.
Swiatek inflated her WTA 1000 title tally by four in 2024 after emerging victorious at the Qatar Open, Indian Wells Open, Madrid Open, and Italian Open. She also completed the three-peat at Roland Garros, winning her fifth Grand Slam title in Paris this year.
#1 Aryna Sabalenka
Aryna Sabalenka has been the best player on the 2024 WTA Tour, albeit by a slight margin over Swiatek. She is currently top of the tree on the WTA Finals Race list, courtesy of her two Grand Slams and two WTA 1000s titles. The Belarusian defended her crown at the Australian Open and took home her maiden US Open in 2024. In addition, she was triumphant at the WTA 1000 Cincinnati Open and Wuhan Open.
Sabalenka also made deep runs at other big tournaments, reaching the quarterfinals at Roland Garros and finishing runner-up at the Madrid Open and Italian Open. If Sabalenka performs better than Swiatek at the year-end championships, she could dethrone the Pole at the top of the WTA rankings.