FORT WORTH, Texas — A season ago, Iga Swiatek qualified for the WTA Finals with just a few weeks left. She is the fifth player out of eight to reach the women's tennis season finale, which she finds stressful.
And 2022? Sviatek dominated the year, and she booked her seat in September, the first to be booked. Swiatek will be the top seed at the start of Monday's tournament, holding the number one ranking since April and leading the tour in terms of championships (eight) and match wins (64).
Swiatek, 21, from Poland, was the leader of the Tracy Austin group decided by lot Friday night, joined by Koko Gough, Caroline Garcia and Daria Casatekina. The Nancy Ricey group will consist of Ons Jabeur, Jessica Pegula, Maria Sakkari and Aryna Sabalenka.
In the round-robin tournament of the WTA Finals, the singles and doubles courts are divided into two groups of 4 players each, which will be played on indoor hard courts.
The top two from each group will advance to the semi-finals.
In the doubles match, Rossi Casals combined Pegula and Goff, Babora Krechkova and Katerina Siniakova, Xu Yifan and Yang Zhaoxuan, Desil Krautsk and Demi Schul; Members of the Pam Shriver Group include Gabriela Dabrowski and Giuliana Olmos, Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens, Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko, Anna Danilina and Beatriz Haddad Maia.
Pegula and Gough are the first women's singles and doubles players to compete in the WTA Finals since Serena and Venus Williams in 2009. Third place Pegula and fourth place Gough also reached the final four for the first time since the Williams Sisters in 2010.
Jabeur, Pegula, Gauff and Kasatkina were all present at the event for the first time. Since 2000, only two WTA Finals entrants have competed in singles for the first time: in 2001, five women competed for the first time, and last year there were six.