A season in the past, Iga Swiatek solely certified for the WTA Finals with a few weeks to spare. She was the fifth of eight gamers to get into the season-ending occasion for ladies’s tennis, a scenario she discovered tense.
What about in 2022? Swiatek was so dominant all year long that she booked her spot in September, the primary to take action. And when play begins Monday, Swiatek would be the prime seed after holding the No. 1 rating since April and main the tour in titles (eight) and match wins (64).
Swiatek, a 21-year-old from Poland, heads the Tracy Austin Group that was decided by the draw Friday evening, joined by Coco Gauff, Caroline Garcia and Daria Kasatkina. The Nancy Richey Group might be Ons Jabeur, Jessica Pegula, Maria Sakkari and Aryna Sabalenka.
The singles and doubles fields each have been break up into two teams of 4 for the round-robin portion of the WTA Finals, which might be contested on an indoor laborious courtroom.
The highest two finishers in every group will advance to the semifinals.
In doubles, the Rosie Casals Group is Pegula and Gauff, Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova, Xu Yifan and Yang Zhaoxuan, and Need Krawczyk and Demi Schuurs; the Pam Shriver Group is Gabriela Dabrowski and Giuliana Olmos, Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens, Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko, and Anna Danilina and Beatriz Haddad Maia.
Pegula and Gauff are the primary pair of ladies entered in each singles and doubles on the WTA Finals since Serena and Venus Williams did it in 2009. No. 3 Pegula and No. 4 Gauff are additionally the primary two American ladies each ranked within the prime 4 for the reason that Williams sisters in 2010.
Jabeur, Pegula, Gauff and Kasatkina are all showing on the occasion for the primary time. Since 2000, solely twice have been there extra WTA Finals contributors making their singles debuts: In 2001, 5 ladies have been within the subject for the primary time, and final 12 months, six have been.
The WTA Finals are returning to the US for the primary time since 2005 after the tour moved it out of China for the second 12 months in a row.
The 2021 WTA Finals initially have been purported to be held in Shenzhen, China, however have been moved to Guadalajara, Mexico, amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Then, late final 12 months, the tour mentioned that it might not have any tournaments in China in 2022 due to considerations in regards to the security of Peng Shuai, a Grand Slam doubles champion who accused a former authorities official in that nation of sexual assault.