Porsche Friend Iga Swiatek wants to be No. 1 again at the WTA Finals

Three players closely linked to Porsche managed to qualify for the prestigious tournament at the end of the year via the “Race to the WTA Finals”: plus Iga Swiatek as Porsche’s friend Poland and Maria Sakkari as Porsche’s friend Greece, Laura Siegmund. From the Porsche Germany team is also present. She participates in the doubles competition with Vera Zvonareva. The eight most successful singles and doubles players of the year usually participate in the WTA Finals.

Iga Swiatek has the most wins in 2023

Iga Swiatek won her second consecutive Porsche Tennis Grand Prix this season and won WTA titles in Doha, Warsaw and Beijing. There was also her third success at the French Open in Paris, where she was the first player since Justine Henin to successfully defend her title in 2007. No other player has five wins at the tournament. The 22-year-old Pole also tops these statistics with a total of 63 matches won. It remained at the top of the rankings for 75 weeks.

Maria Sakkari reached the semi-finals of the WTA Finals in 2022. This time, the 28-year-old Greek moved into the exclusive field of the Women’s Player of the Year as she placed ninth in the “Race to the WTA Finals” due to the cancellation of Carolina Muchova due to injury. In addition to her success in Guadalajara, she reached the semi-finals of the Masters tournaments in Indian Wells and Madrid this year.

Laura Siegmund is first in doubles

Laura Siegmund, the singles winner of the 2017 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, recently celebrated her biggest success in doubles. Together with Vera Zvonareva, she won the Grand Slam title at the US Open in 2020. This year they reached the final in New York. By winning the title in Nanchang, China, the successful doubles team with the 35-year-old Metzingen qualified for the WTA Finals at the last minute, after previously winning in Hobart, Washington DC and Ningbo this season. Also competing in Cancun are Desirae Krawczyk and Demi Schurz, the winning doubles team of the 2022 and 2023 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.

Six of the eight qualifying players in the singles, Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, Onis Jabeur and Maria Sakkari, also took part in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in April at Porsche Arena – with Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka even making the cut. . To the final for the second time in a row.

The battle for No. 1 is also heating up in Cancun

The result of the WTA Finals could also lead to a change in the top spot in the world rankings, which Aryna Sabalenka has held since September 11. But Iga Swiatek has the best chance in Cancun to finish the 2023 season in first place with a successful championship.

Game plan

The preliminary round of the WTA Finals will initially be played in two groups of four. The first in one group will meet the second in the other group in the semi-finals on Saturday, and vice versa. The two winners will face each other in the final on Sunday. Doubles are played in the same way. The draw held in Cancun resulted in the division of the group as follows:

Singles

Bacalar Group

Aryna Sabalenka

Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan)

Jessica Pegula (USA)

Maria Sakkari (GRE)

Chetumal group

Iga Swiatek (POL)

Coco Gauff (USA)

Anas Jaber (DO)

Marketa Vondrousova (Czech Republic)

Double

Mahahual Group

Coco Gauff (USA) and Jessica Pegula (USA)

Barbora Krejcikova (Czech) and Katerina Siniakova (Czech)

Vera Zvonareva and Laura Siegmund (Germany)

Gabriella Dabrowski (Canada) and Erin Routliff (New Zealand)

Maya collection

Storm Hunter (Australia) and Elise Martens (Belgium)

Shoko Aoyama (Japan) and Ena Shibahara (Japan)

Demi Schurz (Netherlands) and Desira Krawczyk (USA)

Nicole Melichar Martinez (USA) and Elaine Perez (Australia)

Maria Sakkari will play her first match on Sunday against world number one Aryna Sabalenka. In the showdown between this year’s two Grand Slam champions, French Open winner Iga Swiatek will face Wimbledon winner Marketa Vondrousova in her opening match on Monday. Laura Siegmund and Vera Zvonareva will not enter the tournament until Tuesday.