Venus Williams will enter the last-chance saloon at the Hong Kong Open starting Monday as she eyes a berth in the season-ending WTA Finals in Singapore and a top-10 spot for the first time since 2011.
For seven-time Grand Slam winner Williams, 35, the event represents her final chance to break into the top nine and thereby qualify for Singapore.
The singles draw at the Singapore tournament showcases the top eight in the world, but Williams' sister and world No. 1 Serena Williams is sitting out the remainder of the year, meaning No. 9 will be enough to qualify.
"This is it," Venus said. "This is my last tournament before the season-ending championship and my last chance to do well. Hopefully I can enter the top seven or eight (in the world). It is not going to be easy as there is a strong field in Hong Kong.
The resurgent Williams currently lies in 14th place, 48 points adrift of the two players holding the number 9 and 10 rankings: Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic and German Angelique Kerber, who is also appearing in Hong Kong.
Williams missed out on valuable points when she was eliminated in the second round of the China Open by Ana Ivanovic, but prior to that she won the Wuhan Open.
Comments