PIF Race to the WTA Finals: Who will qualify next for Riyadh?
The race is on.
With the conclusion of the US Open, the four Grand Slams are officially in the books with six weeks remaining before the qualification cutoff for the 2024 WTA Finals.
As it currently stands, two players have officially qualified for the WTA Finals -- Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka -- leaving the final six spots in the singles competition up for grabs.
WTA Finals qualifiers
- The evolution of Iga Swiatek at the WTA Finals
- From New York to Riyadh, Sabalenka’s season keeps breaking new ground
The Top 7 players on the leaderboard will qualify for the finals in Riyadh. If a Grand Slam champion falls in the No.8-20 range on the leaderboard, that player would qualify. As it stands, Barbora Krejcikova (Wimbledon) would qualify, as she currently sits at No. 10.
Next up on the leaderboard
Elena Rybakina and Jasmine Paolini are next on the leaderboard, at No.3 and No.4, followed by a trio of Americans -- Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula and Emma Navarro -- rounding out the Top 7.
Rybakina and Paolini are separated by only 116 points but hold nearly a 400-point lead over Pegula at No.5.
After starting the summer hard-court swing at No.20, Pegula makes the most significant climb, to No.5, after winning the title at Toronto, finishing as runner-up at Cincinnati and the US Open.
Only Sabalenka (3,410 points) earned more points than Pegula (2,950) during the summer hard-court swing, followed by Paula Badosa (1,385 points, jump from No.39 to No.14) and Emma Navarro (1,375, jump from No.11 to No.7).
Muchova makes significant leap
Of the players in the Top 50, Karoline Muchova made the biggest jump this week, up 66 spots, to No.38. A US Open semifinalist, she was just outside the Top 100 before New York. Other notable players who made a 10-point jump or more following the US Open.
The only other players in the Top 50 who moved up five spots or more from the start of the US Open were Beatriz Haddad Maia (+7 to No.24) and Badosa (+6 to No.14).
Outside looking In
Looking ahead to the remainder of the calendar, 4,000 race points remain up for grabs during the final weeks of the 2024 season.
