Venus back at WTA Finals for first time in eight years

The last time Venus Williams appeared at the WTA Finals, it was 2009, then known as the WTA Championships and staged in Doha.

On Tuesday, it was confirmed that Williams had qualified for the elite eight-player event, now held in Singapore.

Williams joined Simona Halep, Karolina Pliskova and Elina Svitolina as qualifiers for the $US7 million tournament; world No.1 Garbine Muguruza had already qualified.

Three spots remain to be filled, with Caroline Wozniacki, Jelena Ostapenko and Johanna Konta currently next in line in the WTA Race to Singapore.

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Incredibly, despite a career spanning two decades, this is just the fifth time that Williams will appear at the season-ending tournament.

She played in 1999 in New York, 2002 in Los Angeles, won the 2008 edition in Doha and reached the final there in 2009.

Since then, a combination of injuries and ongoing illness have prevented her participation.

Now back in the top five – for the first time in nearly seven years – Williams has soared in 2017 thanks to reaching the Australian Open and Wimbledon finals, the US Open semifinals and the last four in Miami.

She also advanced to the Indian Wells and Rome quarterfinals, building a win-loss record of 34-11 this season.