The 2024 WTA season will be completed by the 2024 WTA Finals, and the entry list is already shaping up for the year-end tournament.
The 2024 WTA Finals will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from November 2nd to 9th. It was a move that sparked a lot of controversy, but despite some questioning the decision, the tournament will go underway and players are looking forward to competing in Saudi Arabia.
At the end of the day, it's a year-end championship, rewarding the eight best players in a given year with a chance to earn some more points and prize money for their efforts during the season.
It's almost becoming a tradition that Iga Swiatek is the first player to qualify for the WTA Finals early in the season, and the same happened also this year, as the Polish player secured her qualification already in June.
She earned enough points to compete at the year-end championship, and for her, the remainder of the season isn't a fight for points to make it to the WTA Finals but to end the year as the World No. 1.
She has already played at the WTA Finals three times. Her first participation, in 2021, ended in the group stage when she won only one match against Paula Badosa. The following year saw her lose in the semi-finals to Aryna Sabalenka, but last year, she outplayed everyone, winning the trophy in Cancun.
A player that Swiatek is in that fight for that World No. 1 spot with is Aryna Sabalenka, who joined Swiatek in qualifying for the WTA Finals in September, thanks to her sensational performances at the US Open.
The Belarusian is the only who has won two majors in 2024, and her participation never seemed in doubt, especially after she was the first Grand Slam champion of the season, winning the Australian Open.
Despite already having three majors in her collection, Sabalenka has yet to win the WTA Finals. In her first participation in 2021, the Belarusian ended already in the group stage, winning a match against Swiatek but losing to Maria Sakkari and Badosa.
The following year, she reached the final, once again beating Swiatek, this time in the semi-finals, but Caroline Garcia proved to be too strong in the final of the 2022 WTA Finals.
In 2023, the Polish player got her revenge when she bested Sabalenka in the tournament's semi-finals. Although the Belarusian has yet to win the trophy at the WTA Finals, she has previously triumphed at a similar competition when she won the 2019 WTA Elite Trophy, a competition for the highest-ranked players who didn't make it to the WTA Finals.
While the two are the only to officially qualified players, there is one adept to also make it to the tournament. Barbora Krejcikova won the 2024 Wimbledon Championships, and she will be eligible for a spot at the WTA Finals even if she doesn't finish the year in the Top 8 of the WTA Race.
Thanks to a special rule for the WTA Finals, the Czech player, as a Grand Slam champion in 2024, must end the year ranked only between 8th and 20th to make it to the WTA Finals.
"The top seven (7) players on the Race to the Finals Leaderboard; Then, the highest-ranked current-year Grand Slam winner who is 8-20 on the Race to the Finals Leaderboard and who is not already qualified."
Outside of her win at Wimbledon, Krejcikova didn't enjoy a lot of success during the 2024 season, so this rule might come into play, possibly eliminating one of the players in the Top 8 from playing at the WTA Finals.
The biggest favorites to make it are Elena Rybakina, Jasmine Paolini, Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff, and Emma Navarro, with Danielle Collins occupying that possibly unlucky eighth spot.
2024 WTA Finals Riyadh Qualified Players:
| Qualified | Player |
|---|---|
| 1. | Iga Swiatek |
| 2. | Aryna Sabalenka |
| *3. | *Barbora Krejcikova |
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