WTA Finals 2024: Top stars who can secure the remaining six spots

Published at :September 18, 2024 at 8:09 AM

Modified at :September 18, 2024 at 8:09 AM

(Courtesy : Getty Images)

Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka have already qualified for the WTA Finals 2024 in Riyadh.

While Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka are already through to the WTA Finals 2024, six spots remain for grabs in the run-up to the season-ending WTA Finals in Riyadh. The event moved from Cancun last year and will call Riyadh home until 2026 at the earliest.

Swiatek qualified on the back of her strong performances earlier this year courtesy of a splendid clay court outing. She came through to confirm her spot in early August. The World No. #1 notched up uninterrupted wins at Madrid, Rome, and Roland Garros.

In the finals of Madrid and Italy, she defeated her arch-rival – Aryna Sabalenka. The Belarusian, though had the last laugh, bagging two Grand Slam wins in 2024 to Iga Swiatek’s one. The Polish player’s win in Roland Garros came at the expense of Jasmine Paolini.

Sabalenka grabbed hold of the second qualifying spot after reaching her second Grand Slam final of the season. She made most of the North American hard-court season that got underway in August.

Also Read: Aryna Sabalenka qualifies for inaugural WTA Finals in Riyadh en route to maiden US Open title

The Belarusian brushed off a heartbreaking run where she lost in Madrid and Rome in closely fought contests. The turnaround by the World No. #2 had begun by reaching the semi-final in Washington, wins in Cincinnati and New York followed against Jessica Pegula. The win in the Big Apple made Sabalenka the first woman in the open era to win in Melbourne and New York in the same season since Angelique Kerber in 2016.

Eight of the top-ranked players in the WTA will be given a chance to play for the WTA Final trophy. With the top two for Riyadh locked in, what would the fate of the rest of the field be? Who can make it past the finish line with the qualification cut-off date for WTA Finals 2024 looming?

In order of their existing WTA tour ranking, let’s look at the women likely to make it to Riyadh.

Elena Rybakina

Elena Rybakina has had a turbulent 2024 season. The Kazakh has made at least the semi-final stage on seven occasions, winning three titles this season. She has a win-loss record of 41-9, winning runs at Brisbane, Abu Dhabi and Stuttgart.

At Stuttgart, the World No. #4 ended Swiatek’s chances to take home a Porsche for the third time in a row. Rybakina handed the Pole a three-set defeat in the semifinals.

The setbacks were in the form of early exits in Berlin and Cincinnati. There is also the as-yet unexplained departure from Flushing Meadows, withdrawing from the second-round match against French qualifier Jessika Ponchet. Illness-related withdrawals from the 2024 Summer Olympics and Rome could complicate her bid to play in Riyadh. She currently leads Jasmine Paolini by a slender 116 points in the singles race.

Jasmine Paolini

Italy’s Jasmine Paolini came closer than ever to realising her Grand Slam dream in 2024, having reached the finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Upon reaching the finals at SW19, she climbed to a career-high ranking of World No. #5 in July.

The ever-smiling Italian overcame qualifier Anna Kalinskaya to bag her first WTA 1000 trophy in Dubai. Paolini made her way back from a set down for a three-set triumph over the Russian. She currently occupies fourth place in the singles race and is breathing down Elena Rybakina’s neck, who is third on the list.

Paolini will have to be wary of getting complacent in her hunt for a first-ever WTA Finals appearance. She failed to get past the round of 16 in three consecutive events following her Wimbledon run – losing to lower-ranked players in all of them.

Jessica Pegula

American Jessica Pegula is another player whose career has witnessed an upswing this season. Her turn of fortunes began at the Ecotrans Ladies Open in Berlin and carried over to Toronto. It was her first title at Berlin and second in a row in the National Bank Open held in Toronto. She won the event in Montreal last season.

She brushed off a disappointing first half of the season that did not yield a single final to reaching her maiden Grand Slam final. Despite losing to Aryna Sabalenka in New York, she kept her sense of humour alive by suggesting the Belarusian could have let her win at least one set.

A consistent stint on North American hard courts ensured her return to the WTA Top #3, a position she returned to for the first time since August 2023 and is at No. #5 in the race to the WTA Finals. Pegula was a finalist at last season’s WTA Finals in Cancun, where she ran into familiar foe, Swiatek. Pegula is 400 points adrift of Jasmine Paolini.

Coco Gauff

Coco Gauff was the toast of New York last season when she won the 2023 US Open final over Aryna Sabalenka. It was Gauff’s fourth win of the season after Washington, Cincinnati and Auckland, and it appeared the American could not put a foot wrong.

Aside from her title defence in Auckland, the young American has fallen short of the dizzying heights she reached in 2023. Despite reaching the semi-final at five events after Auckland, she has failed to add to her trophy basket. Rome, Paris and Stuttgart saw the the 20 year old recording three consecutive semi-final appearances.

Gauff’s absence in Washinton, early exits in Paris, Cincinnati and New York saw her tumble out of the WTA top 5 less than a month after becoming World No. #2.

Emma Navarro

The 23-year-old Emma Navarro has made a breakthrough in the 2024 season. Reaching the last eight at SW19 and snatching a semi-final appearance in the Big Apple has boosted Navarro’s chances of making the WTA Finals for the first time.

En route to the US Open last four, Emma Navarro sent defending champion and third seed Coco Gauff packing in the fourth round. It was Navarro’s first appearance in a Grand Slam semi-final, following which she climbed to a career best yet of No. #8, up four places from before the event.

Navarro has been knocking at the doors of the top 10 since making her top 20 debut at No. #18 in June this year. In between the events in London and New York, she squeezed out a semi-final appearance at the WTA 1000 event in Toronto.

Danielle Collins

Danielle Collins announced her decision to retire at the end of the season and is making the most of her swansong. The 2022 Australian Open finalist won back-to-back titles during Miami Open and Charleston Open. The 30-year-old also reached the semi-final in Rome and the Strasourg Open final in May.

The unexpected but stellar run at the sunset stage of her career nudged the American back into the top 20 in April and a spot in the top 10 in July. She rose to the No. #8 spot in August, her highest since July 2022. She obtained her career-high ranking of World No. #7 in 2022. The veteran player is looking to cap off her final year on tour with a maiden WTA Finals appearance.

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