Pegula and the dynamic duo of Hunter & Mertens secure spot in WTA Finals – Update

• Pegula, who has also qualified in doubles, is set to make her second appearance at the season-ending tournament
• Doubles World No.1 and defending champion Mertens and partner Hunter will make their debut as a team 

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The WTA announced Monday Jessica Pegula and the doubles team of Storm Hunter and Elise Mertens have secured their qualification for the 2023 WTA Finals.

Pegula joins Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina in the singles field, while Hunter and Mertens become the second team to qualify for the WTA Finals after Pegula and partner Coco Gauff.

The season-ending event will be held in Cancun, Mexico, from Oct. 29 to Nov. 5, marking the second year the WTA Finals has been held in the country following its staging in Guadalajara in 2021.

This year will mark Pegula’s second consecutive WTA Finals appearance in both singles and doubles. This season, she has reached three finals, winning the WTA 1000 National Bank Open presented by Rogers in Montreal and finishing as runner-up at WTA 500 events at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open in Doha and most recently the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

The American has made four additional semifinals, at WTA 1000 tournaments at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and Miami Open presented by Itaú, and at WTA 500 events at the Credit One Charleston Open and the Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington DC. 

Pegula also played an integral part in Team USA winning the inaugural United Cup at the beginning of the season in Australia, going 4-1 in singles play including her a win over the reigning World No.1 Iga Swiatek in Sydney.

Hunter and Mertens will be making their first appearance as a team at the WTA Finals, with Mertens returning as defending champion having won the event last year with Veronika Kudermetova. The Australian-Belgian duo have won two WTA 1000 titles this season, triumphing at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome and the Guadalajara Open AKRON Presented by SANTANDER, in addition to reaching the title match at the WTA 250 Rothesay Classic Birmingham and Wimbledon. 

This season marks Hunter’s first qualification for the WTA Finals, while current doubles World No.1 Mertens will be making her fifth appearance.

The 2023 WTA Finals feature 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 winning the WTA Finals Billie Jean King Trophy and the doubles champions earning the WTA Finals Martina Navratilova Trophy.

Click here to see the latest Race to the WTA Finals leaderboard.

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