Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek will battle it out for the No. 1 spot in the world when the WTA Tour season ends in Cancun; Head to the Sky Sports website and app for live scores, reporting, analysis and features
6:31, UK, Thursday 26 October 2023
As the WTA Tour season comes to a close in Cancun, everything is on the line as the top eight singles and doubles players from the season battle it out to determine the best of the best.
The group stage begins on Sunday, October 29, and runs until Sunday, November 5, with Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek vying for the No. 1 spot in the world.
Qualification is determined based on points accumulated throughout the calendar year rather than traditional rankings completed within a 12-month period.
The eight singles players were divided into two groups for a round-robin match. The top two players in each group advance to the semifinals, and the singles champion wins the WTA Year-End Finals Billie Jean King Trophy.
Who’s playing?
singles field
1. Alina Sabalenka
- Won her first Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open.
- On September 11, he ranked No. 1 in the singles world for the first time and has remained at the top of the list ever since.
- A total of three titles were won this year and three additional finishes were achieved.
- First woman since Serena Williams in 2016 to reach the semifinals or better at all four Grand Slams in one year.
2. Iga Swiatek
- Ranked among the leaders in the number of titles (5) and wins (63) on the WTA Tour this season.
- Winning her fourth Grand Slam title at Roland Garros, she was the first woman to defend her French Open title since Justine Henin in 2007.
- Won the sixth career WTA 1000 title in Beijing and reached the WTA 1000 finals in Dubai and Madrid.
3. Coco Gough
- Won her first Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open.
- Winning four singles titles in 2023, including the first WTA 1000 title in Cincinnati and the first WTA 500 title in Washington.
- She entered the WTA Finals with 22 wins in her last 24 matches, including a season-best 16-match winning streak.
4.Elena Rybakina
- She won her first two career WTA 1000 titles in Indian Wells and Rome and reached the WTA 1000 Miami final.
- Won 27 matches in WTA 1000 events this season and tied with Iga Swiatek for the 2023 tour title.
- This year she went 4-0 against the current No. 1 player in the world and defeated Swiatek three times while ranked No. 1. She also defeated new world number one Sabalenka in Beijing.
5. Jessica Pegula
- Won both WTA 1000 Montreal and WTA 250 Seoul titles in a single season for the first time.
- Twice entered the WTA 500 finals in Doha and Tokyo.
- Won the WTA doubles world No. 1 for the first time, and advanced to the WTA Finals as the No. 1 doubles player with Coco Gauff.
6. Ons Jabr
- In addition to finishing runner-up at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, the Tunisian also won the WTA 250 Ningbo Open and WTA 500 Charleston Open this year.
7. Marta Vondrousova
- Vondrousova, the 2019 French Open runner-up, won her first Grand Slam at Wimbledon.
- She has reached three other WTA quarterfinals this year, including the U.S. Open.
8. Maria Sakkari
- Sakkari has already reached two WTA Tour finals this season, winning the biggest title of her career at the WTA 1000 Guadalajara Open and winning the WTA 500 Mubadala and Washington Open. The championship game was fought for.
The lineup includes all four Grand Slam winners in 2023, including Australian Open champion Sabalenka, French Open champion Swiatek, Wimbledon champion Vondrousova and US Open champion Gauff, while Rybakina and Vondrousova will First appearance in WTA year-end finals.
A look back at 19-year-old Coco Gauff’s first major title at U.S. Open
Karolina Muchova withdrew from the match due to a wrist injury, so 2022 WTA Finals champion Maria Sakkari came on as the first substitute.
What is the arrangement with 1 on the line?
The winner of the WTA Finals will win the singles title with an undefeated record, receive 1,500 ranking points and $302.4 billion in prize money.
Sabalenka may have ended Swiatek’s 75-week run at world number one after the US Open, but her lead at the top has been cut to just 590 points following victory at the recent China Open.
Players will receive 125 points per game, 125 points for each round-robin win, 330 points for a semi-final win, and 420 points for a final win.
Belarusian star Sabalenka will defend her title in Cancun with 955 points after reaching the final last year, while Swiatek will defend his title with 750 points after losing in the 2022 semifinals.
Swiatek had been preparing for the event back home in Poland before heading to Mexico.
“Maybe it’s not the best situation because pre-season will be a little shorter, but for sure I’ll take all the positives out of it,” the 22-year-old said.
Tim Henman analyzes Gauff’s sensational US Open win and assesses her impact on the sport
doubles court
1. Coco Gough and Jessica Pegula
2. Storm Hunters and Elise Mertens
3. Shuko Aoyama & Ena Shibahara
4. Barbora Krejcikova and Katarina Siniakova
5. Desiree Krawczyk & Demi Sholes
6. Laura Sigmund and Vera Zvonareva
7. Gabriella Dabrowski and Erin Rutliff
8. Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez
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