Tennis News

The doubles field for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global is now set after events in Beijing saw the final four qualifying berths decided on Wednesday.

Defeat for Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova in the Chinese capital confirmed that Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova, Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Yung-Jan, Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka, and Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova will all be heading to Singapore for the season finale.

The four join earlier qualifiers Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic, Martina Hingis and Mirza, Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina, and Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova in the eight-team knockout draw.

There is a wealth of experience amongst the final batch of qualifiers, with only Goerges and Pliskova making their Singapore debut. Two-time major winners Hlavackova and Hradecka were runners-up at the Finals in 2012, before reaching the semifinals on their return in 2015. The Chan sisters were also semifinalists 12 months ago, while Babos and Shvedova, have also qualified in the past, albeit with other partners.

The current Road to Singapore leaderboard as follows (as of October 3, 2016):

Elina Svitolina posted back-to-back wins over Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki to claim the title at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships – and leap up to the No.2 spot on the Road To Singapore leaderboard.

The Ukrainian – who also broke the Top 10 with her win in the final – is in the middle of a 12-match winning streak and shows no signs of slowing down.

“When I go on court, and everything I just leave behind,” Svitolina told WTA Insider after the win. “For me it’s very important to be mentally there – don’t think, don’t let bad thoughts do bad things with my game.

“If I had lost somewhere, I would feel it. Like, ‘Come on, you did something good!’ Now I’m winning and winning and I want more and more.”

Another player to record a big RTS move is World No.2 Angelique Kerber. Her run to the Dubai semifinal puts her back on track for a return to the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, and she sits right on the Top 8 bubble at No.9. Meanwhile, Caroline Wozniacki’s back-to-back finals at Doha and Dubai put her inside the Top 8 at No.5. 

Here are the biggest moves on the Road To Singapore leaderboard this week:
Elina Svitolina +7 (No.9 to No.2)
Caroline Wozniacki +4 (No.9 to No.5)
Angelique Kerber +15 (No.24 to No.9)
Garbiñe Muguruza -3 (No.7 to No.10)
Dominika Cibulkova -3 (No.11 to No.8)

 Click here to check out the full Road to Singapore leaderboard, updated as of February 27th.