Pegula ends up qualifying for the WTA Finals

With just four weeks left in the 2023 WTA Tour regular season, the field for the WTA Finals is starting to take shape. The Top 8 players (singles) and teams (doubles) on the WTA Finals Leaderboard and the end of the regular season will qualify for the WTA Finals Cancun.

See the full race here and the full rankings here.

Who’s There?

The first four qualifiers for the singles competition at the WTA Finals have been announced with Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina gaining qualification. The American duo of Gauff and Jessica Pegula became the first doubles team to qualify.

Who’s next?

Pegula is closing in on qualifying for the WTA Finals in singles and has a chance to secure that this weekend in Tokyo.

Marketa Vondrousova and Karolina Muchova currently hold the No.6 and No.7 spots on the WTA Finals Leaderboard, respectively. Both withdrew from this week’s tournament in Tokyo before the start.

Ons Jabeur, who is currently No.8 on the leaderboard, will compete in Ningbo as the top seed after receiving a wild card in the event.

On the outside looking in, Maria Sakkari climbed to No.9 on the leaderboard after her title run at the Guadalajara WTA 1000 tournament. As a semifinalist last week, Sakkari earned a bye in Tokyo. She is followed by No.10 Madison Keys and No.11 Petra Kvitova, who is the No.2 seed in Ningbo this week.

Champions Reel: How Maria Sakkari won Guadalajara 2023

2023 Guadalajara

Next Race Stop

Players have four weeks left to earn points for the WTA Finals Leaderboard. Here’s a look at the remaining events:

This week

Tokyo: WTA 500 (470 points for the winner, 305 for the finalist, 185 for the semifinalists)
Ningbo: WTA 250 (280 points for the winner, 180 for the finalist, 110 for the semifinalists)

Swiatek and Rybakina, who have already qualified for the WTA Finals, compete in Tokyo this week with a chance to strengthen their seeding for the year-end event as well as their year-end ranking. Additionally, Jessica Pegula, Maria Sakkari, Caroline Garcia and Daria Kasatkina lead the field in Tokyo as they battle for position on the WTA Finals Leaderboard.

Next week

Beijing: WTA 1000 (1000 points for the winner, 650 for the finalist, 390 for the semifinalists)

Looking ahead

Week of October 9:

Zhengzhou: WTA 500 (470 points for the winner, 305 for the finalist, 185 for the semifinalists)
Hong Kong: WTA 250 (280 points for the winner, 180 for the finalist, 110 for the semifinalists)
Seoul: WTA 250 (280 points for the winner, 180 for the finalist, 110 for the semifinalists)

Week of October 16:

Cluj-Napoca: WTA 250 (280 points for the winner, 180 for the finalist, 110 for the semifinalists)
Monastir: WTA 250 (280 points for the winner, 180 for the finalist, 110 for the semifinalists)
Nanchang: WTA 250 (280 points for the winner, 180 for the finalist, 110 for the semifinalists)

Unusual Rank Movements

Last week’s Guadalajara WTA 1000 and Guangzhou WTA 250 tournaments enabled several significant moves up the ranking ladder.

Sofia Kenin +22 (from No.53 to No.31): Former Australian Open champion Kenin continues his resurgence as he backed up a run to the San Diego final two weeks ago by making the last four in Guadalajara. It was Kenin’s fifth career semifinal at the WTA 1000 level or above and first since making the 2020 Roland Garros final, meaning she returns to the Top 40 for the first time since January 2022.

Martina Trevisan +13 (from No.54 to No.41): Former Roland Garros semifinalist Trevisan scored his fourth career Top 10 win by knocking out Ons Jabeur to reach the Guadalajara quarterfinals. The Italian returned to the Top 50 for the first time since May.

Caroline Dolehide +69 (from No.111 to No.42): The 25-year-old American became the second-lowest ranked WTA 1000 finalist since the format began in 2009 with her surprise run to the Guadalajara final, with wins over Trevisan and Kenin. Dolehide’s only previous tour-level quarterfinals were a pair of WTA 250 events, Québec City 2017 and Monterrey 2023. Having broken into the Top 100 for the first time in May, she now rocks up to make the his Top 50 debut.

Wang Xiyu +30 (from No.88 to No.58): Wang changed his season in style by capturing his first title in Guangzhou. Before last week, the 22-year-old Chinese player compiled an 11-21 record at the tour level in 2023 and fell to No.88 from a career-high No.49 in January. Now, he is heading in the right direction again.

Leylah Fernandez +14 (from No.74 to No.60): The former US Open finalist reached her third quarterfinal at the WTA 1000 level or above in Guadalajara and first since Roland Garros 2022. The Canadian was elevated to her highest ranking since May.

Taylor Townsend +12 (from No.101 to No.89): By reaching the third round in Guadalajara, the American returned to the Top 100 for the first time since March 2021. Townsend, who set her career-high No.61 in July 2018, returned from maternity leave in April 2022 .

Emiliana Arango +60 (from No.180 to No.120): Arango upset Anastasia Potapova and Sloane Stephens in Guadalajara to become the first Colombian to reach the quarterfinals of a WTA 1000 tournament or equivalent since Fabiola Zuluaga in Berlin 2004. The 22-year-old climbed to a new career-high and Top 150 debut.