Qinwen Zheng, Barbora Krejcikova, Madison Keys confirmed for the WTA Elite Trophy (Images via NY Times, WTA, CNN)
The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) on Wednesday announced the singles field of 12 players for the 2023 edition of the WTA Elite Trophy set to be held in Zhuhai, China. Barbora Krejcikova and Qinwen Zheng headline the list with Jelena Ostapenko and Madison Keys also included in it.
The tournament is set to kick off on 24 October at the Hengqin International Tennis Center in Zhuhai. It is worth mentioning that the WTA Elite Trophy is making a return after four years as it was last held in 2019. The event could not be held in 2020, 2021, and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in China.
Now, as the year-end tournament makes a return, players as well as the fans will be delighted. Aryna Sabalenka is the defending champion in the singles event while Lyudmyla Kichenok and Andreja Klepac are the defending champions in the doubles event. However, Sabalenka will not be taking part in the event this time around as she will be playing the WTA Finals in Mexico.
Nevertheless, Czech’s Krejcikova has sealed the top seed having reached four finals this season, winning titles at the WTA 1000 tournament in Dubai and WTA 500 event in San Diego Open as well as finishing runner-up at the WTA 500 in Zhengzhou Open and WTA 250 event in Birmingham. Meanwhile, Madison Keys will be making her fourth appearance at the tournament. Qinwen Zheng, who won the title in Zhengzhou has also been included in the list.
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Jelena Ostapenko set to make her debut at the WTA Elite Trophy
While there are a few familiar faces as the WTA Elite Trophy makes a return after four years, there will be a few debutants as well. Latvian ace Jelena Ostapenko will be making her maiden appearance at the year-end tournament having won the title at the WTA 250 event in Birmingham, reaching the semifinal at the WTA 1000 tournament in Rome, and making a further four quarterfinals, including at the Australian Open and US Open.
The other notable inclusions are Veronika Kudermetova who won the Japan Open beating Jessica Pegula, and Liudmila Samsonova who reached the finals in Montreal and Beijing. Russia’s Daria Kasatkina, Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia, Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia, Croatian ace Donna Vekic, and Poland’s Magda Linette have also found a place in the eleven regular spots.
Meanwhile, Zhu Lin enters the tournament as a wild card having enjoyed a breakout season on the WTA Tour, winning the WTA 250 Thailand Open in Hua Hin and contesting the title match at the Japan Open Tennis Championships in Osaka, also a WTA 250 tournament.
Speaking about the tournament, it is an end-of-season tournament held in Zhuhai, China, featuring 11 singles players ranked in the Top 30 at the end of the year plus a wild card in addition to six doubles teams contesting a round-robin format. The first edition was held in 2015 wherein Venus Williams picked the singles title.
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