WTA Finals: Ostapenko qualifies, no wildcard for Stephens

Jelena Ostapenko on Wednesday sealed her place at the WTA Finals following a second-round victory over Sam Stosur at the China Open.

Ostapenko’s 6-3 7-5 win means she snares the seventh place in the elite eight-player draw in Singapore, with the struggling Johanna Konta still in prime position to round out the field.

At the start of Day 5 @ChinaOpen, only three players can stop Jo Konta from qualifying for @WTAFinalsSG this week: Garcia, Vesnina, Barty.

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) October 4, 2017

The 20-year-old Ostapenko will be appearing at the season-ending championship for the first time in her career, capping a season that featured her first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros.

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She will join Wimbedon winner Garbine Muguruza, Simona Halep, Elina Svitolina, Karolina Pliskova, Venus Williams and Caroline Wozniacki in what is shaping as a sparkling event.

Yet another first-time major champion, Sloane Stephens, is expected to miss the cut.

The US Open winner, currently in 13th position in the Race to Singapore and an early-round loser in Beijing, will apparently not be awarded a wildcard allowing her to become the eighth and final qualifier.

Rules permit the WTA to choose the eighth participant in Singapore “at its sole discretion and taking into account extraordinary circumstances” after the top seven have already qualified for the field.

An article in Sporting Life quoted a WTA spokesperson as saying this rule would not be applied.

“All singles players qualify for the WTA Finals according to the points they win in the season-long race, the Porsche Race to Singapore,” she said.