Editor's note: This week, we looked at the road each of the eight singles players and eight doubles teams took to qualify for this year's GNP Seguros WTA Finals Cancun in Mexico.

Singles

Monday: No.1 Sabalenka | No.2 Swiatek

Tuesday: No.3 Gauff | No.4 Rybakina

Wednesday: No.5 Pegula | No.6 Jabeur

Thursday: No. 7 Vondrousova | No.8 Sakkari 

Doubles

Monday: No.1 Gauff and Pegula | No.2 Hunter and Mertens

Tuesday: No.3 Aoyama and Shibahara | No.4 Krejcikova and Siniakova

Wednesday: No.5 Krawczyk and Schuurs | No.6 Siegemund and Zvonareva

Thursday: No.7 Dabrowski and Routliffe | No.8 Melichar-Martinez and Perez

Ons Jabeur: Season at a glance

After finishing last year ranked No.2 in the world, Ons Jabeur experienced a bittersweet season in 2023, with some pitfalls which could have derailed many other athletes.

But the Tunisian used her champion's mentality to overcome those difficult moments and qualify for the WTA Finals for the second straight year.

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Challenges were present from the very start of the year. After a second-round loss at the Australian Open to Marketa Vondrousova (remember that name for later), Jabeur underwent minor knee surgery.

The surgery came at an inopportune time for the Arab region's highest-ranked player, as she missed the Middle East events in Abu Dhabi, Doha and Dubai, where she would have gained fervent support.

Jabeur bounced back in a productive clay season. Despite experiencing more niggling injuries, she won the Charleston title and reached the Roland Garros quarterfinals, getting back into contention in the Race to the WTA Finals.

Jabeur rode that clay-court momentum onto the lawns of Wimbledon, where she was aching to capture the grass-court major she was a set away from winning in 2022.

"I'm hoping to go and get the title really in Wimbledon," Jabeur said at the end of her Roland Garros run. "I'm dreaming about it. It's something that I always wanted."

Season highlights:

  • Won two singles titles, at Charleston and Ningbo
  • Reached second straight Wimbledon final
  • Only woman in 2023 to reach Hologic WTA Tour singles finals on all three surfaces -- hard court, clay and grass (not including team events)
  • Third African to make consecutive WTA Finals singles appearances, following Greer Stevens (1979-1980) and Amanda Coetzer (1993-2001)

Out of context, Jabeur posted another successful Wimbledon result. She reached the final for the second straight year, beating Top 10 players Petra Kvitova, Elena Rybakina (whom she lost to in the 2022 final) and Aryna Sabalenka in a row.

But as the favorite in the final, Jabeur once again settled for the runner-up plate after suffering her third straight loss to Vondrousova in 2023.

Despite making her third career Grand Slam final, Jabeur was devastated, saying during the trophy ceremony that this was "the most painful loss of my career."

However, Jabeur picked herself up and soldiered on in a quest to maintain her Top 10 position.

Jabeur did exactly that in the Asian swing, wining the Ningbo title and reaching the Zhengzhou quarterfinals to seal her WTA Finals spot. Now a strong Cancun showing could set her up nicely for more attempts at a Grand Slam title in 2024.

"I do believe in destiny," Jabeur said in Beijing. "I do believe that maybe it wasn't meant to be in Wimbledon this year. 

"I'm working hard to improve everything and take it one step at a time. I think I'm starting to change a little bit my thinking about preparing myself from now until that day happens. The hard work is coming. Hopefully one day I can lift that beautiful trophy."