Pliskova and Svitolina clinch WTA Finals spots

Former world number one Karolina Pliskova earned a place in the year-ending WTA Finals despite a second-round defeat to Russian veteran Vera Zvonareva at Moscow’s Kremlin Cup yesterday. Pliskova’s 6-1, 6-2 loss to Zvonareva, the 2010 Wimbledon and US Open runner-up, also secured Elina Svitolina’s spot in the eight-woman field in Singapore next week. Czech star Pliskova’s participation was confirmed after fourth seed Kiki Bertens lost 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 to Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus.

“I’m delighted to be appearing at the WTA Finals for the third time,” Pliskova said. “I have such great memories from playing in Singapore in 2016 and 2017, and I can’t wait to close out the year competing against the other elite players of 2018.” Pliskova and Svitolina joined top-ranked Simona Halep of Romania, Germany’s Angelique Kerber, Japan’s Naomi Osaka, Czech Petra Kvitova, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark and Sloane Stephens of the USA. They will battle for a $7 million (6.1 million euros) prize purse in Singapore.

Bertens, who sits ninth in the race to Singapore rankings, could yet still feature at the season-ending event as Halep, who pulled out of the Kremlin Cup on Tuesday, is battling a back injury. She was diagnosed with a herniated disk following her withdrawal from Beijing two weeks ago.