The four pots for the 2023 WTA Finals have been determined, pitting the top two seeds, Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, together and who will avoid each other in the round-robin stage.
The rest of the pots are in accordance with the race standings. This means the second pot includes Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina. The third pot has Jessica Pegula and Ons Jabeur. The fourth and last pot contains the two Czech debutants Marketa Vondrousova and Karolina Muchova.
The WTA Finals will begin on October 29th and conclude on November 5th. It will be held in Cancun, Mexico. The date for the draw ceremony has not yet been announced, but fans are already speculating about the possible matchups we could see from the group stage.
Players belonging to the same pot cannot face each other until the semifinal at the earliest. So Sabalenka and Swiatek, who have their year-end No. 1 ranking battle, won't be drawn into the same group. Sabalenka will keep her No. 1 ranking if she reaches the final without losing in the group stage.
Swiatek, however, can still draw any or all of Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, and Karolina Muchova. Remarkably, the Pole is a combined 15-5 against the trio in the head-to-head. But things could get tetchy for the 22-year-old should she come up in the same group as Elena Rybakina. The Kazakh has defeated Swiatek in all three meetings in 2023.
Last year Swiatek won all three of her group stage matches but lost in the semifinal to Sabalenka. Swiatek and Sabalenka can still face each other in the semifinals depending on where each one finishes in their respective groups. Sabalenka will be keen to avoid Rybakina, who has won their last two head-to-head meetings.
But that would present her with a dilemma as she will get Gauff instead. The 19-year-old defeated Sabalenka in the final of the US Open. Pegula and Gauff could rub shoulders in the group stage. The two Americans will be doubles partners during the week in Cancun but could face each other in the group stage.
We could see some exciting matchups in the group stage. There is a possibility of a Wimbledon final rematch between Ons Jabeur and Marketa Vondrousova. We could also see the Australian Oepn sequel between Sabalenka and Rybakina. In fact, any of the four Grand Slam finals that took place this season could be repeated in the group stage of the WTA Finals as we await the draw.
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