With the news last week that Serena Williams has elected to end her season early, forgoing the final major events of the year, the race to be involved in the premier season-ending event is no less exciting. The WTA event in Beijing saw a number of contenders fall early, as a select few pulled away.
This week has seen Garbine Muguruza continue to assert her claim to be involved for the first time, as she moved up to No.4 in the race last week. She plays in the final of Beijing after defeating another contender in Agnieszka Radwanska in the semi-finals. Radwanska will move back into contention after her strong semi-final showing.
She will play Timea Baczinszky, who will also improve her bid, by moving into the Top ten for the first time. She came back from a set down to beat Ana Ivanovic. Ivanovic meanwhile, looks like joining Serena Williams as a player who qualified for last year’s event who may not appear this year. A good week in Beijing has aided her cause, but she still needs to perform in the final weeks to get back into the reckoning. Eugenie Bouchard will also not appear after suffering a season of poor form and injury problems. Caroline Wozniacki is also struggling to replicate the form that saw her take her place in Singapore last year. She only managed a third round in Beijing this week.
Simona Halep has already qualified again, whilst Maria Sharapova looks well placed to join her. There are just two more weeks of events before the season-ending finale, and Sharapova would have to be displaced by a number of rivals if she is not to qualify. Petra Kvitova saw her strong position weaken significantly, suffering a shock early exit to Sara Errani. Madison Keys, Flavia Pennetta, and Carla Suarez Navarro, all fell in the third round.Venus Williams suffered a setback in her early defeat to Ana Ivanovic in the second round. She will drop from eleventh in the race. Karolina Pliskova will also fall out as she in the opening round. Belinda Bencic was forced to withdraw with a right hand injury, and Lucie Safarova did not play this week’s event in Beijing.
Angelique Kerber will continue to keep her destiny within her control, a strong quarter-final run saw her put further ground between herself and many of her rivals.
