Tennis News: Here's how Serena Williams can qualify for the WTA Finals

The race to the WTA Finals is getting tighter this year with only one spot left to be filled for the season-ending event in Shenzhen. Elina Svitolina, who won the year-ending event last year, will be defending her championship after becoming the seventh player to qualify for the event recently. The other players on the women's tour to qualify are Karolina Pliskova, Simona Halep, Bianca Andreescu, Naomi Osaka and Petra Kvitova.

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WTA Finals: Elina Svitolina's performance this season 

After a solid start to the year, Svitolina hit a rough patch after losing seven of eight matches between mid-March and the end of June. But the Ukrainian found her mojo back in the second half of the season by reaching the semi-finals at Wimbledon (where she fell to Halep) and the US Open (where she lost to Serena Williams)

Svitolina was one of only two women to reach multiple Grand Slam semi-finals in 2019—the other was Williams, who finished as the finalist at both Wimbledon and the US Open.

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WTA Finals: Serena Williams' race to the final 

The 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams will fight against Kiki Bertens and Belinda Bencic to earn the last spot in the WTA Finals. Serena last played the WTA Finals in 2014 and had won the title after beating Simona Halep in the championship clash. Though the equation comes down to the Kremlin Cup in Moscow this week, Serena won't be playing the event, which could make her qualification tougher and as a result, a nail-biting one.

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WTA Finals: How Bencic or Bertens can qualify

Bertens and Bencic are in the same half of the draw in Moscow, so it’s only possible for one of them to make the final. If one of them makes the final, they’ll qualify. If they meet in the semi-finals, the winner will qualify. If neither of them makes the final, Serena will qualify.

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