WTA Finals: 4 big players to miss out – WTA Tour of 2021 is coming to an end with WTA Finals, starting on 10th November 2021. Top stars like 2021 French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova, Iga Swiatek, Karolina Pliskova and Aryna Sabalenka will look to take home the pretigious year-end tournament title. However, the fans will miss the actions of big names like World No.1 Ashleigh Barty, Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka at the WTA Finals in Guadalajara, Mexico. Follow WTA Finals Live Updates on InsideSport.
WTA Finals: 4 big players who will miss WTA Finals feat. World No.1 Ash Barty
InsideSport takes a look at 4 big players who will miss at WTA Finals this year.
1. Ashleigh Barty:
- World No.1 Ashleigh Barty has withdrawn from WTA Finals and thus she will not be defending her year-end tournament title.
- The 25-year-old Australian tennis star has ended her season after 2021 US Open due to COVID-19 home quarantine rules in her home country.
- Ashleigh Barty has played 12 tournaments, out of which she has won five titles, including a Wimbledon Championships title, and earned a total of 6,411 points .
- The two-time Grand Slam champion stated her reason of the withdrawal from the season that she is “not willing to compromise my preparation for January”, When Australian Open 2022 takes place.
- Her withdrawal from WTA Finals has given a sigh of relief to players like Barbora Krejcikova, Iga Swiatek, Karolina Pliskova and Aryna Sabalenka, who will be take home the year-end title.
2. Naomi Osaka
- Naomi Osaka has officially ended her season after withdrawing from Indian Wells due to mental health issues. The 24-year-old played her last game of this season at the 2021 US Open, where lost to eventual finalist Leylah Fernandez in the third round.
- Former World No.1 made headlines after opened up about her mental health issues during French Open 2021 after she refused to do press conference post every match. Eventually, she had decided to withdraw from the tournament. However, she has received worldwide support from the athletes for opening mental health issues.
- This year, Naomi Osaka has played 8 tournaments, out of which she won only one i.e. 2021 Australian Open title and earned a total of 2,771 points.
- The four-time champion and former World No.1 was dropped out of top 10 rankings in October for the first time since September 2018 and therefore, ending her 140 consecutive weeks in the Top 10.
- Naomi Osaka was knocked out from WTA Finals in round-robin twice in 2018 and 2019.
WTA Finals: 4 big players who will miss WTA Finals feat. World No.1 Ash Barty
3. Serena Williams:
- Serena Williams didn’t have a great season this year. The 40-year-old American tennis star has played only five tournaments in this season and didn’t bag a single title.
- The 23-time Grand Slam champion is yet to fulfil her record-equaling 24 Grand Slam titles in her career. She missed out her thrice at Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon. In the 2021 Australian Open, Serena Williams lost to eventual champion Naomi Osaka in the semifinals. At the French Open, she was defeated by Elena Rybakina in the 3rd round. And, in the 2021 Wimbledon Championships, Serena had to leave the court in between due to injury.
- Serena Williams had officially ended her season after withdrawing from 2021 US Open. Due to this, she has to fall 19 places in her rankings. Currently, she is ranked 41. In five tournaments she has played, Serena earned a total of 1519. She is a five-time champion at WTA Finals (2001, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014).
4. Emma Raducanu:
- Emma Raducanu created headlines at the 2021 US Open when she scripted history by becoming the first British woman since 1977 Wimbledon Championships to win Grand Slam singles title. She achieved the feat by defeating Leylah Fernandez in the all-teenage women’s final.
- With her US Open triumph, Emma Raducanu jumped 127 places to rank 23 in the WTA rankings. Currently, she is ranked no. 20. However, her current ranking couldn’t help her book the spot in WTA Finals as only top 8 players are eligible to play the tournament.
- Emma Raducanu has played seven tournaments authorized by WTA, out of which she won only won and earned a total of 2650 points. The 18-year-old has reached the quarterfinals of the 2021 Wimbledon Championships.
WTA Finals: 4 big players who will miss WTA Finals feat. World No.1 Ash Barty