ST. PETERSBURG, FL., September 23, 2023 (WTA Press Release)
The WTA announced the first set of qualifiers for the 2023 WTA Finals, which includes WTA World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka, Poland’s Iga Swiatek, recent US Open champion Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina, who will be making her tournament debut. Gauff has also secured her qualification in doubles with fellow American Jessica Pegula, which marks their second appearance as a team.
The prestigious season-ending event will be held this season in Cancun, Mexico, from October 29 to November 5, marking the second year the WTA Finals has been held in the country following its staging in Guadalajara in 2021.
Aryna Sabalenka is enjoying her third consecutive qualification for the WTA Finals, with her best result coming last year when she reached the title match. The 25-year-old has enjoyed the best season of her career in 2023, winning her debut Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open in addition to the WTA 1000 Mutua Madrid Open and WTA 500 Adelaide International.
She’s reached a further three finals, at the WTA 1000 BNP Paribas Open (Indian Wells), WTA 500 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart) and the US Open, with the latter confirming her ascent to the WTA World No.1 ranking for the first time in her career.
Poland’s Iga Swiatek will also be appearing at the WTA Finals for the third time, and will be looking to build on last year’s semifinal run. Swiatek has won four tournaments in 2023, defending her titles at Roland-Garros and WTA 500 events at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open (Doha) and Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Suttgart), in addition to winning her home event at the WTA 250 BNP Paribas Warsaw Open. She currently leads the Hologic WTA Tour for match wins, with an impressive 56-10 record this season.
Coco Gauff is celebrating qualifying in both singles and doubles this season, appearing in both formats at the WTA Finals for the second year in a row. Along with Swiatek, Gauff has won the most singles titles in 2023 with four to her name, the first of which came in her opening event of the season at the WTA 250 ASB Classic in Auckland, followed by a glorious American summer swing which saw her win the WTA 500 Mubadala Citi DC Open (Washington DC), the WTA 1000 Western & Southern Open (Cincinnati) and her debut Grand Slam title at the US Open to set a new career-high ranking of No.3 in the world.
In doubles, Gauff and Jessica Pegula secured their qualification courtesy of titles at the WTA 1000 Miami Open presented by Itaú and WTA 500 Qatar TotalEnergies Open (Doha) and runner-up finishes at WTA 1000 events at the Mutua Marid Open and Internazionali BNL d’Italia (Rome). Earlier in September the American duo became the first co-ranked WTA World No.1s since 2019.
Elena Rybakina has become the first woman from Kazakhstan to secure qualification for the WTA Finals in singles courtesy of a season that has seen her perform on the biggest stages across 2023. She lifted her first WTA 1000 titles at the BNP Paribas Open (Indian Wells) and Internazionali BNL d’Italia (Rome), while also reached her second Grand Slam final at the Australian Open and another WTA 1000 final at the Miami Open presented by Itaú, posting a new career-high ranking of No.3 in June. Rybakina is the third player representing Kazakhstan to appear at the WTA Finals joining Anna Danilina (2022) and Yaroslava Shvedova (2010, 2011, 2016) who both qualified in doubles.
The 2023 WTA Finals features the top 8 singles players and doubles teams on the Race to the WTA Finals, competing in a round-robin format with the singles champion lifting the WTA Finals Billie Jean King Trophy and the doubles champions earning the WTA Finals Martina Navratilova Trophy.
Click here to see the latest Race to the WTA Finals leaderboard.
Buy your tickets for the 2023 WTA Finals here.
