WTA Finals 2023 complete line-up ft. Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff
Eight women including Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, and Coco Gauff have booked their berths in the 2023 WTA Finals.
The WTA Finals this year will be held in Cancun, Mexico, from October 29 to November 5. Apart from the aforementioned, Elena Rybakina, Jessica Pegula, Marketa Vondrousova, Ons Jabeur, and Karolina Muchova have also made the cut.
Maria Sakkari's hopes of playing another WTA Finals were shattered with a loss at the hands of Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals of the ongoing China Open in Beijing. Gauff bettered the Greek in straight sets to set up a final-four clash with Iga Swiatek. In the other semifinal, Elena Rybakina will face Liudmila Samsonova.
Sakkari needed to at least reach the semifinals in Beijing to keep herself in the fray for a third consecutive appearance at the Year-end Championships. The only way now she can be a part of the lineup is either if one of the qualified players withdraws or she is considered as an alternate.
In the qualification race, Sabalenka leads the pack with 8,425 points, followed by Swiatek and Gauff with 7,185 points and 5,955 points, respectively. Elena Rybakina (5,865), Jessica Pegula (4,720), Marketa Vondrousova (3,671), Ons Jabeur (3,660), and Muchova (3,650) occupy the remaining spots from No. 4 to No. 8.
Interestingly, none of the qualifying women have won the WTA Finals ever in their careers so far. Defending champion Caroline Garcia fell way short of the qualifying mark (3,650) this year following a disappointing run of form.
Coco Gauff to play Zhengzhou Open as wildcard as she wanted to play more matches before WTA Finals
Coco Gauff is scheduled to play in the Zhengzhou Open after she accepted a wildcard entry in the tournament's draw. Her decision surprised the tennis world as other top players had opted for the China Open as their last tournament before the WTA Finals.
Gauff, however, defended her decision saying she needed a cushion in case she failed to make a deep run at Beijing.
"Yeah, I mean, after that tournament, assuming if I do well, I would have two weeks before the Finals. Really I wanted to have a second tournament in case this one doesn't go as well. I wanted matches before the WTA Finals because from the US Open to the Finals is a long stint," she said to media recently.
"If you lose early here, the Finals is a long stint. I wanted to play at least two tournaments down here. Playing the last week would have been tough, too quick of a turnaround before WTA Finals, so we decided to play that tournament," the 2023 US Open women's champ added.
Coco Gauff will take on Iga Swiatek in the semifinal of the China Open next.