Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic has claimed the final spot at the WTA Finals in Shenzhen, China. She also went on to win the WTA Kremlin Cup title by beating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in a gritty three-setter.
World No.10, Bencic secured the eighth spot for the Finals event in Shenzhen and will become a part of the world’s best tennis players to battle it out for the final honour of becoming the WTA Champion.
Bencic will join fellow competitors Ashleigh Barty, Karolina Pliskova, Simona Halep, Bianca Andreescu, Naomi Osaka, Petra Kvitova and Elina Svitolina in the season-ending championship which begins on October 27.
Among the top 10, those who failed to qualify for the finals are world No. 8 and 9, Kiki Bertens and Serena Williams. Williams was next in line to qualify and narrowly missed out.
The Swiss player needed to reach the finals of the Kremlin Cup to qualify for the finals. To top it off, Bencic won the Kremlin Cup defeating Kristina Mladenovic 6-3, 6-4 and became the first Swiss woman to do so since 2000 when Marina Hingis claimed the Cup.
Bencic has had an incredible season, winning two titles, the Dubai Tennis Championships early this year and the Kremlin Cup this week. Bencic also reached the semi-finals at the US Open this year, the farthest she has gotten at a Grand Slam, but was defeated by eventual champion Andreescu.
She reached the Top 10 after her semi-finals appearance in New York after 2015. Bencic reached the semi-finals at the Indian-Wells Masters and the Madrid Open, as well as the finals at the Mallorca Open this year.
The Swiss also has recorded an impressive nine victories over the Top 10 players and six victories over the Top 5 players this tour season.
After qualifying for the WTA Finals, Bencic said:
“It’s a dream to be competing at the WTA Finals and to be one of the top eight. It makes it even more special that I booked my ticket at the last possible minute. This match had so much pressure and I was so nervous. Now I’m over the moon to win today and achieve this dream.”
She called the added that playing at Shenzhen was a bonus and justifiably rewards a good season year of tennis.
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