· First doubles team to qualify for the 2014 WTA Finals in Singapore as competition expands to eight teams
ST. PETERSBURG, FL, USA – The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) announced that the World No.1 doubles team, Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci, have become the first doubles team to qualify for this year’s BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, to be staged at the Singapore Sports Hub from October 17-26, 2014.
The announcement comes the same week as the Italian doubles team returned to the co-No.1 position in the WTA Doubles Rankings after winning the title at Wimbledon. With the win, they became the fifth team in the Open Era to complete a Career Grand Slam adding to their previous Grand Slam doubles titles at Australian Open (2013, 2014),
ST. PETERSBURG, FL, USA – The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) announced that the World No.1 doubles team, Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci, have become the first doubles team to qualify for this year’s BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, to be staged at the Singapore Sports Hub from October 17-26, 2014.
The announcement comes the same week as the Italian doubles team returned to the co-No.1 position in the WTA Doubles Rankings after winning the title at Wimbledon. With the win, they became the fifth team in the Open Era to complete a Career Grand Slam adding to their previous Grand Slam doubles titles at Australian Open (2013, 2014),
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Roland Garros (2012) and US Open (2012). As a team, they have won 196 matches and have reached eight of the last 11 Grand Slam finals, including the first three Slams of 2014. They also won titles this year at the Porsche Grand Prix (Stuttgart) and the Mutua Madrid Open bringing their career doubles titles tally as a team to 20. They have also compiled an undefeated record to date in Fed Cup doubles competition for Italy.
“Sara and Roberta have formed one of the most dominant partnerships in the last few years,” said Stacey Allaster, WTA Chairman and CEO. "Over the years, fans worldwide have shown a growing appreciation and respect for their level of competitiveness as they etch their names into the WTA record books. I know they will be eager to compete in Singapore as they look to build on their partnership competing for the WTA Finals Martina Navratilova Doubles Trophy."
The 2014 WTA Finals marks Errani and Vinci’s third consecutive year competing at the prestigious year-end event. In 2012 they earned the distinction of becoming the first all-Italian team to compete at the event and went on to finish both the 2012 and 2013 seasons as WTA Doubles Team of the Year. Vinci is returning to the WTA Finals for the fourth time in her career: her appearances now span a 13-year period, having made her debut in 2001 partnering with Sandrine Testud. Errani, who played in both the singles and doubles events in 2012 and 2013, has qualified in doubles for the third straight year and currently sits in 12th position to secure a singles position as well.
The 2014 WTA Finals will feature the Top 8 singles players competing in a round-robin event, while the Top 8 doubles teams will be competing in a single-elimination draw competing for the newly-named WTA Finals Martina Navratilova Doubles Trophy. The Road to Singapore Doubles Leaderboard is based on the best 11 results during the 2014 season for each respective team.
The WTA Finals was the most-watched WTA event of 2013, setting record broadcast and digital audience milestones with coverage in 170 countries via 50 broadcasters and 1,000 overall hours produced, which includes live matches, match replays, and player highlights. The 2013 WTA Finals set new records for fan engagement earning 15 million more fans across social media during the three years in Istanbul, with more than 150 million reached via #WTAFinals.
With the slogan “On Top of The World”, Singapore will become the ninth different city to host the WTA Finals following Boca Raton (1972-1973), Los Angeles (1974-1976, 2002-2005), Oakland (1978), New York City (1977, 1979-2000), Munich (2001), Madrid (2006-2007), Doha (2008-2010) and Istanbul (2011-2013).
DOUBLES: ROAD TO SINGAPORE LEADERBOARD - AS OF MONDAY, JULY 7, 2014
RTS RANK
PLAYER
RTS POINTS
1
Errani/Vinci (ITA/ITA)
8480
2
Hsieh/Peng (TPE/CHN)
4672
3
Peschke/Srebotnik (CZE/SLO)
3530
4
Black/Mirza (ZIM/IND)
3395
5
Kops-Jones/Spears (USA/USA)
3125
6
Makarova/Vesnina (RUS/RUS)
2837
7
Medina Garrigues/Shvedova (ESP/KAZ)
2316
8
Rodionova/Kudryavtseva (AUS/RUS)
2180
----
9
Barty/Dellacqua (AUS/AUS)
1900
10
Muguruza/Suarez Navarro (ESP/ESP)
1885
“Sara and Roberta have formed one of the most dominant partnerships in the last few years,” said Stacey Allaster, WTA Chairman and CEO. "Over the years, fans worldwide have shown a growing appreciation and respect for their level of competitiveness as they etch their names into the WTA record books. I know they will be eager to compete in Singapore as they look to build on their partnership competing for the WTA Finals Martina Navratilova Doubles Trophy."
The 2014 WTA Finals marks Errani and Vinci’s third consecutive year competing at the prestigious year-end event. In 2012 they earned the distinction of becoming the first all-Italian team to compete at the event and went on to finish both the 2012 and 2013 seasons as WTA Doubles Team of the Year. Vinci is returning to the WTA Finals for the fourth time in her career: her appearances now span a 13-year period, having made her debut in 2001 partnering with Sandrine Testud. Errani, who played in both the singles and doubles events in 2012 and 2013, has qualified in doubles for the third straight year and currently sits in 12th position to secure a singles position as well.
The 2014 WTA Finals will feature the Top 8 singles players competing in a round-robin event, while the Top 8 doubles teams will be competing in a single-elimination draw competing for the newly-named WTA Finals Martina Navratilova Doubles Trophy. The Road to Singapore Doubles Leaderboard is based on the best 11 results during the 2014 season for each respective team.
The WTA Finals was the most-watched WTA event of 2013, setting record broadcast and digital audience milestones with coverage in 170 countries via 50 broadcasters and 1,000 overall hours produced, which includes live matches, match replays, and player highlights. The 2013 WTA Finals set new records for fan engagement earning 15 million more fans across social media during the three years in Istanbul, with more than 150 million reached via #WTAFinals.
With the slogan “On Top of The World”, Singapore will become the ninth different city to host the WTA Finals following Boca Raton (1972-1973), Los Angeles (1974-1976, 2002-2005), Oakland (1978), New York City (1977, 1979-2000), Munich (2001), Madrid (2006-2007), Doha (2008-2010) and Istanbul (2011-2013).
DOUBLES: ROAD TO SINGAPORE LEADERBOARD - AS OF MONDAY, JULY 7, 2014
RTS RANK
PLAYER
RTS POINTS
1
Errani/Vinci (ITA/ITA)
8480
2
Hsieh/Peng (TPE/CHN)
4672
3
Peschke/Srebotnik (CZE/SLO)
3530
4
Black/Mirza (ZIM/IND)
3395
5
Kops-Jones/Spears (USA/USA)
3125
6
Makarova/Vesnina (RUS/RUS)
2837
7
Medina Garrigues/Shvedova (ESP/KAZ)
2316
8
Rodionova/Kudryavtseva (AUS/RUS)
2180
----
9
Barty/Dellacqua (AUS/AUS)
1900
10
Muguruza/Suarez Navarro (ESP/ESP)
1885
By: Editor
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