–

Surprises during the group session? Well, the fact that Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina – neither of whom played any tennis in the leadup and both of whom having changed coaches, not going the distance is not a major shock.

And Barbora Krejcikova, qualified only because of her Wimbledon victory and looking down and out with her back after her first defeat in the group stage, coming on and qualifying.

On the doubles side, the fact that three of the four qualifiers are the three lowest seeds is a semi-surprise. Although the Siniakova-Townsend team is terrific; it just got together later in the season and thus didn’t move as far up the charts as it likely would have.

(Riyadh is eight hours ahead of EDT)

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WTA Finals
Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Category: WTA Finals
Surface: Indoor Hard Court
Dates:  Nov. 2 – 9, 2024
Prize money: $15.25 million
Draws: S8 – D8

Friday, Nov. 8, 2024
Final results

Singles, semifinals

[3] Coco Gauff (USA) def [1] Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) 76 (4) 63

[7] Zheng Qinwen (CHN) def [8] Barbora Krejcikova (CZE) 63 75

Doubles semifinals

[2] Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN) / Erin Routliffe (NZL)  def [6] Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA) / Ellen Perez (AUS) 76 (7) 61

[8] Katerina Siniakova (CZE) / Taylor Townsend (USA) def [7] Hao-Ching Chan (TPE) / Veronika Kudermetova (RUS) 60 76 (5)

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Stephanie Myles

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