Volvo Car Open Player Field Has Eyes Set on Singapore

Elena Vesnina is on cloud nine…. as she should be after snagging the biggest title of her career at the 2017 BNP Paribas Open. This win caused Vesnina’s ranking to soar higher than ever – to No. 13, and landed her at a comfortable No. 6 on the Road to Singapore. She is one of three Volvo Car Open contenders currently filling the top eight spots for the WTA Finals. In total, The Volvo Car Open’s field has seven of the top 20 contenders on the Road to Singapore.

Vesnina joins Venus Williams and Caroline Wozniacki in the leaderboard with Johanna Konta waiting patiently at No. 9 and  Mirjana Lucic-Baroni right behind her at No. 10.

Venus has been powering through tournament after tournament, most notably facing her superstar sister, Serena, in the finals of the Australian Open. Since then, Venus has been admirably advancing through the slew of tournaments that define this part of the calendar year. Fighting to the quarterfinals at Indian Wells, Venus fell to eventual champion Vesnina in a tight three-set run, 2-6, 6-4, 3-6.

Caroline Wozniacki also fell in the quarterfinals at the BNP Paribas Open to Kristina Mladenovic in another tough three-set loss 6-3, 7-6 (4-7), 2-6. This is after she reached the finals in Qatar and Dubai. Wozniacki sits at World No. 14 and No. 5 on the Road to Singapore.

World No. 11 Johanna Konta is ninth in line on the Road to Singapore after dropping from World No. 8 when Vesnina took the title at Indian Wells. Seeded No. 10 in the 2017 Miami Open, Konta breezed past fellow Brit Heather Watson in the BNP Paribas Open with a 6-4, 6-4 victory. Konta won the title in Sydney after defeating, at the time, World No. 3 Agnieszka Radwańska. She also advanced to the quarterfinals of this year’s Australian Open.

Mirjana Lucic-Baroni sits just under the Top 30 umbrella at World No. 29—a career-high ranking for the Croatian player. She fought to the semifinals of the Australian Open at the beginning of this year, upsetting two top ranked players before taking the loss to Serena Williams. Very close to the top 8, Lucic-Baroni is No.10 in line on the Road to Singapore.

Other Volvo Car Open players on the leaderboard include Peng Shuai and Lauren Davis. Shuai battled from the qualifying into the round 16 at Indian Wells, defeating No. 6 seed Radwańska on the way. Davis is currently sitting at a career-high ranking of World. No. 34. She won her first WTA title in Auckland and followed-up the win with two quarterfinal appearances in Qatar and Dubai.

Who will compete in the WTA Finals? We’ll find out in October. Until then… keep your eyes on the leaderboard at http://www.wtafinals.com/.