WTA Finals heads to Dickies Arena in Texas. Who will join Iga Swiatek in the field at Fort Worth?

Garbine Muguruza kisses the WTA Finals trophy

The WTA Finals has a fourth new venue in four years after it was confirmed that the season-ending tournament will be played in Fort Worth, Texas.

The 2021 season-finale was played in Zapopan, Mexico, in November as it was a replacement for Shenzhen, China, who was still under restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic.

It was a surrounding success in Mexico and it was initially assumed that the tournament would return this year, but the WTA has confirmed the United States will host the WTA Finals for the first time since in 17 years.

Los Angeles’ Staples Center was the last American venue to host the season-ending tournament as it staged the event from 2002 to 2005.

Steve Simon, WTA Chairman and CEO, said: “The Dickies Arena and the city of Fort Worth has a proven track record of hosting world-class sporting and entertainment events, and we are excited to bring the WTA’s showpiece tournament back to the United States for the first time since 2005.

“This location and venue for the 2022 WTA Finals will provide a fantastic experience for players and fans alike and offer a fitting finale as another exciting season on the Hologic WTA Tour comes to a close.”

The 2020 event was cancelled due Covid-19 while Shenzhen hosted the tournament in 2019 with Singapore staging it from 2014 to 2018.

2022 Race to the WTA Finals

The top-eight highest-ranked players in the singles and doubles will compete in the season-ending tournament with their points calculated by combining point totals from sixteen tournaments.

For the singles, a player’s result from the four Grand Slams, the four WTA 1000 events with 1,000 points on offer for the winner, and the best results from two WTA 1000 tournaments with 900 points for the winner must be included.

Point totals are calculated by any combination of eleven tournaments throughout the year for the doubles teams.

So far world No 1 Iga Swiatek is the only player who has booked her ticket in the season-finale with the Pole qualifying on the back of winning the French Open and winning four WTA 1000 events (two that offered 1000 points and two that offered 900 points).

Swiatek has 7,990 and she is followed by Ons Jabeur on 3,626 points with the Tunisian winning one WTA 1000 (1000 points) and one WTA 500 tournament. Jabeur also reached the final of Wimbledon, but no points were on offer.

American Jessica Pegula is third on the back of reaching the quarter-final of the Australian Open, French Open and US Open while Wimbledon finalist Coco Gauff is fourth following her run to the French Open final.

Daria Kasatkina, Simona Halep, Caroline Garcia and Aryna Sabalenka complete the provisional top eight.

Player

Points

1. Iga Swiatek 7,990
2. Ons Jabeur 3,626
3. Jessica Pegula 3,232
4. Coco Gauff 2,983
5. Daria Kasatkina 2,831
6. Simona Halep 2,661
7. Caroline Garcia 2,546
8. Aryna Sabalenka 2,521

&bnbsp;
Maria Sakkarai, Veronika Kudermetova, Paula Badosa, Madison Keys and Belinda Bencic are not too far off though.

Two-time Grand Slam winner Garbine Muguruza in the defending champion, but the Spaniard is out of the running as she is down in 54th place. Ashleigh Barty was the 2019 champion, but she retired earlier this year while Elina Svitolina will also not feature as she is currently on maternity leave.

Latest