ISTANBUL, Turkey - Petra Kvitova, Victoria Azarenka and the doubles team of Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond have qualified for the prestigious TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships, which will be hosted at the state of the art Sinan Erdem Arena in Istanbul, Turkey. They will join Caroline Wozniacki, Maria Sharapova and the doubles team of Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik.
The WTA's year-end finale will feature the world's Top 8 singles players and Top 4 doubles teams competing for the coveted title and a share of $5 million prize money. The WTA is working closely with the Turkish Tennis Federation to ensure this season's year-end finale in Istanbul is the best in its history.
"Congratulations to Petra, Victoria, Liezel and Lisa on qualifying for the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships," said Stacey Allaster, Chairman & CEO of the WTA. "All of these players had terrific seasons with historic achievements and accolades and a trip to Istanbul is a great way to end a memorable year."
Kvitova, whose breakthrough season has included her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon, will be making her debut at the event: "I've had a great year and I'm so happy to qualify. My game has come a long way this year - mentally, technically, and tactically - I can't point to one thing that made the difference. This will be my first time at the Championships and I don't know what to expect, but I'm looking forward to playing indoors on hardcourt, my favorite surface."
Azarenka, who is ranked a career-high No.3 in the world, will be making her third straight appearance at the event: "At the start of the year reaching the Championships is one of the goals you're aiming for, and so I'm really happy to be playing there. I've already been to Istanbul to see the site, so I'm excited that I've managed to qualify and get back there to play. I think it's one of the hardest events because you have to play right away against the top players."
Huber will be making her fifth appearance while Raymond is competing there for the 11th time; they are making their first appearance together.
"We were so excited to hear that we qualified for the Championships after winning the title in Tokyo today," Raymond said. "All this hard work over the last couple of months has paid off. For Liezel and me, to have another chance at playing this tournament is something we're really looking forward to."
