ST PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The WTA announced Friday the doubles teams of Chan Hao-Ching & Veronika Kudermetova and Nicole Melichar-Martinez & Ellen Perez secured the last two qualification places for the WTA Finals Riyadh presented by PIF.
This now sets the world-class doubles field and they join Jelena Ostapenko & Lyudmyla Kichenok, Hsieh Su-Wei & Elise Mertens, Sara Errani & Jasmine Paolini, Gabriela Dabrowski & Erin Routliffe, Katerina Siniakova & Taylor Townsend and Caroline Dolehide & Desirae Krawczyk in competitng to lift the prestigious WTA Finals Martina Navratilova Trophy.
Earlier this week the singles field was also confirmed and will feature PIF WTA World No.1 Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, Jasmine Paolini, Jessica Pegula, Zheng Qinwen and Barbora Krejcikova.
Chan Hao-Ching and Veronika Kudermetova will be making their team debut at the WTA Finals this season, with both appearing before with other partners. Kudermetova won the title in her only other outing in 2022 with Elise Mertens, while 2024 marks Chan Hao-Ching’s fourth appearance overall having earned three previous qualifications with sister Latisha Chan.
They paired up in April of this year and enjoyed almost instant success, winning their second event together at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart). The team went on to reach a further three finals, at the WTA 1000 China Open in Beijing and at back-to-back WTA 500 tournaments at the ecotrans Ladies Open (Berlin) and the Bad Homburg Open powered by Solarwatt.
Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez are set to appear together at the WTA Finals for the second time. They finished as runners-up in 2023.
The pair have claimed two WTA 500 titles this year at the Cymbiotika San Diego Open and the Bad Homburg Open powered by Solarwatt, as well as reaching the final at the WTA 1000 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and WTA 500 Upper Austria Ladies Linz. Melichar-Martinez has two further appearances at the WTA Finals, contesting the group stage in 2018 with Květa Peschke and reaching the semifinals in 2021 partnering with Demi Schuurs.
Click here to see the latest PIF Race to the WTA Finals Leaderboard.
The 2024 WTA Finals features the top 8 singles and doubles teams on the PIF Race to the WTA Finals Leaderboard (with the 8th spot going to the singles player and doubles team that have won a Grand Slam if ranked No.8 to No.20). This showcases the world’s best eight singles players and doubles teams competing in a round-robin format with the singles champion lifting the WTA Finals Billie Jean King Trophy and the doubles champions earning the WTA Finals Martina Navratilova Trophy.
For more information on how to buy tickets for the WTA Finals Riyadh, click here.
