Jessica Pegula Qualifies for WTA Finals in Fort Worth

ST PETERSBURG, FL, USA – The WTA announced today Jessica Pegula and the doubles teams of Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko and Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens have qualified for the 2022 WTA Finals.

This will be Pegula’s debut appearance at the WTA Finals and she joins WTA World No.1 Iga Swiatek and Ons Jabeur in the singles draw for the prestigious season-ending tournament, with five qualification places remaining.

Kichenok and Ostapenko along with Kudermetova and Mertens will also be making their debuts as a team at the WTA Finals. With defending champions Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova in addition to Gabriela Dabrowski and Giuliana Olmos having secured their qualification already, just four places now remain in the doubles draw for Fort Worth.

Both posted new career-high rankings in doubles this season on September 12 following their excellent year, Kichenok at No.9 and Ostapenko at No.7. Ostapenko has WTA Finals experience in singles, contesting the group stage in 2017

Elise Mertens has qualified for her fourth consecutive WTA Finals, having appeared in 2018 (with Demi Schuurs), 2019 (with Aryna Sabalenka) and 2021 (with Hsieh Su-Wei, reaching the final), while partner Veronika Kudermetova is appearing at the prestigious season-ending event for the first time. The team have reached four finals this season, winning the WTA 500 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and contesting the title match at WTA 1000 events at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open (Doha) and Miami Open presented by Itaú and the WTA 250 Libema Open (‘s-Hertogenbosch).

The pair have reached a further three semifinals this season, at the Australian Open, WTA 1000 Western & Southern Open (Cincinnati) and the Toray Pan Pacific Open (Tokyo). Kudermetova rose to No.2 in the world on June 6 courtesy of their results this year, while Mertens is a former World No.1 in doubles, ascending to the top spot for the first time on May 10, 2021.

The 2022 WTA Finals features the top 8 singles players and doubles teams on the Race to the WTA Finals, competing in a round-robin format with the singles champion lifting the WTA Finals Billie Jean King Trophy and the doubles champions earning the WTA Finals Martina Navratilova Trophy.