Serena Williams, Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond qualify for the Istanbul Championships – Tennis News
American number one, Serena Williams, has continued with her blistering run of form this year and has booked a spot in the season-ending grand finale in Istanbul, TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships. The American doubles experts, Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond, have also qualified for the mega event to be played from 23rd to 28th October.
The Czech duo of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka has also made it through to the Istanbul Championships after posting yet another season of dominance and class. They are currently at number two in the Race-to-WTA Championships list and have bagged three doubles titles together this year so far. Hlavackova and Hradecka are the defending champions in Istanbul and will be seen in action to retain their coveted title this year.
"I would like to extend my congratulations to Serena, Andrea, Lucie, Liezel and Lisa on qualifying for the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships - Istanbul," said WTA Chairman & CEO Stacey Allaster. "Serena has had an incredible year, becoming the only player in history to achieve a Golden Career Grand Slam in both singles and doubles, and winning her fifth Wimbledon and fourth US Open titles. Andrea and Lucie's outstanding play has seen them reach the finals of Wimbledon and the US Open. Liezel and Lisa continue to set the bar for dedication and commitment, capturing five titles and spending 20 weeks as co-No.1s on the WTA doubles rankings.”
The circuit-ending mega event will feature only the Top-8 singles players and the Top-4 doubles teams at the Sinan Erdem Arena. Only the top performers of the season will combat at the WTA Championships to finish off the season on a winning note and gaining a confidence booster for the next year’s campaigns.
World number one, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, and the second ranked Russian diva, Maria Sharapova, have already qualified for the WTA Championships. Agnieszka Radwanska, Petra Kvitova, Angelique Kerber, Sara Errani and Li Na are the other leading contenders for the berths at the elite field in Istanbul. There are still a number of tournaments to follow and no one knows who crashes out of the Top-8 list to miss out the grand finale.
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