Race Update: Pegula closing in on WTA Finals qualification

With only four weeks remaining on 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.

View the full race here and the full rankings here.

Who’s In?

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

Who’s Next?

Pegula is closing in on qualification for the WTA Finals in singles and will have a chance to secure that outright this week 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 prior to the start.

Ons Jabeur, currently No.8 on the leaderboard, will be competing in Ningbo as the top seed after receiving a wild card to the event. 

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

Next Stops on the Race

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

This Week

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

Swiatek and Rybakina, who already qualified for the WTA Finals, are competing in Tokyo this week with an opportunity to solidify seeding for the year-end event as well as their year-end ranking. In addition, Jessica Pegula, Maria Sakkari, Caroline Garcia and Daria Kasatkina headline the field in Tokyo as they battle for position on the WTA Finals Leaderboard.

Next Week

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

Looking Ahead

Week of October 9:

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

Week of October 16:

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

Notable Rankings Movements

Last week's Guadalajara WTA 1000 and Guangzhou WTA 250 tournaments enabled a number of noteworthy boosts up the rankings ladder.

Sofia Kenin +22 (from No.53 to No.31): Former Australian Open champion Kenin's resurgence continued as she backed up a run to the San Diego final two weeks ago by making the last four in Guadalajara. Kenin's fifth career semifinal at WTA 1000 level or above and first since making the 2020 Roland Garros final, means that 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 her fourth career Top 10 win by knocking out Ons Jabeur to reach the Guadalajara quarterfinals. The Italian returns 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 was instituted in 2009 with her surprise run to the Guadalajara final, featuring wins over Trevisan and Kenin. Dolehide's only previous tour-level quarterfinals had been at a pair of WTA 250 events, Québec City 2017 and Monterrey 2023. Having entered the Top 100 for the first time in May, she now rockets up to make her Top 50 debut.

Wang Xiyu +30 (from No.88 to No.58): Wang turned her season around in style by capturing her first title in Guangzhou. Before last week, the 22-year-old Chinese player had compiled an 11-21 record at tour level in 2023 and slipped to No.88 from a career-high of No.49 in January. Now, she's 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 WTA 1000 level or above in Guadalajara and first since Roland Garros 2022. The Canadian is lifted to her highest ranking since May.

Taylor Townsend +12 (from No.101 to No.89): By reaching the third round in Guadalajara, the American returns to the Top 100 for the first time since March 2021. Townsend, who set her career-high of 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 at a WTA 1000 tournament or equivalent since Fabiola Zuluaga at Berlin 2004. The 22-year-old soars up to a new career-high and a Top 150 debut.