The WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) announced today that the doubles pairings of Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina and Chan Yung-Jan/Martina Hingis are the first doubles teams to qualify for the 2017 BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, taking place October 22-29 at the Singapore Sports Hub. Makarova/Vesnina are currently at the top of the Porsche Race to Singapore Leaderboard and Chan/Hingis are in second.
Makarova and Vesnina are set to return to Singapore in defense of their 2016 WTA Finals title. The Russians have three titles this year – Wimbledon, Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and Rogers Cup – Toronto, and have reached the quarterfinals or better in 10 of their 11 events this year. They have qualified for the WTA Finals in each of the last four years (did not play in 2015 due to a Makarova injury), winning the title in 2016 and reaching the final in 2013.
“We are excited to return to Singapore to defend our WTA Finals title,” said Vesnina. “We have great memories in Singapore and will try to play our best to win again. The moment we won last year was thrilling and we hope to recreate that alongside our fans.”
“Elena and I love to play doubles together and winning the title last year in a tournament with the eight best teams in the world was so much fun,” said Makarova. “We always look forward to coming back to the WTA Finals, as it is a great challenge for us.”
Chan and Hingis, from Chinese Taipei and Switzerland, began their partnership at the Qatar Total Open – Doha, reaching the semifinals on their debut as a team. The duo has since been crowned champions at five events this season: the BNP Paribas Open – Indian Wells, Mutua Madrid Open, Internazionali BNL d’Italia – Rome, Mallorca Open and Aegon International Eastbourne. Chan will be making her fourth appearance and Hingis will be making her eighth doubles appearance at the WTA Finals, where she has won the doubles title on three occasions in 1999-2000 (w/ Kournikova) and 2015 (w/Mirza).
“It is a great honor to be the first team to qualify for the WTA Finals in Singapore,” said Hingis. “Chan Yung-Jan and I teamed up for the first time earlier this year and we have had great success with five titles. I feel very comfortable with her on the court and we are looking forward to achieving great things throughout the rest of the season and in Singapore.”
“This will be my fourth time competing at the WTA Finals, and I’m really looking forward to it,” said Chan. “The last two years have been with my sister, and we have played against Martina many times, so it will be a fun new experience to play in Singapore with her on my side of the net.”
The top eight singles players and doubles teams will compete at the 2017 BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global in October.
Tickets to the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global are on sale at the WTAFinals.com, an immersive one-stop destination for all things tournament-related, bringing fans the latest news from the top players on their journey on the Porsche Race to Singapore.
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