Kvitova, Azarenka and Doubles Team of Huber and Raymond Qualify for TEB-BNP

Written by: Resendiz on 1st October 2011

Kvitova, Azarenka and Doubles Team of Huber and Raymond Qualify for TEB-BNP

Victoria Azarenka of Belarus hits a return to Serena Williams of the US during their third round match on the sixth day of the 2011 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA 03 September 2011. The US Open runs through 11 September 2011. EPA/JUSTIN LANE |

Petra Kvitova, Victoria Azarenka and the double team of Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond have qualified for the prestigious TEB-BNP Paribas WTA Championships, which will be hosted at the state of the art Sinan Erdem Arena in Istanbul, Turkey. These WTA stars join World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, three-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova and the doubles team of Kveta Peschke/Katarina Srebotnik who already secured their trip to Istanbul.

The WTA’s year-end finale, to be held in Istanbul through 2013, will feature the world’s top eight singles players and top four doubles teams competing for the coveted title and a share of the $5 million in prize money. The WTA is working closely with partner Turkish Tennis Federation to ensure that this season’s year-end finale in Istanbul is the best in its history.

“Congratulations to Petra, Victoria, Liezel and Lisa on qualifying for the TEB-BNP Paribas WTA Championships. All of these players had terrific seasons with historic achievements and numerous accolades and a trip to Istanbul is a great way to end a memorable year,” said Stacey Allaster, Chairman and CEO of the WTA.

Petra Kvitova:

“I’ve had a great year so far and I’m so happy to be able to qualify for the Championships,” Kvitova said. “My game has really come a long way this year – mentally, technically, and tactically – I can’t point to one thing that has made the difference. Obviously this will be my first time at the Championships and I don’t know really what to expect, but I’m looking forward to playing indoors on hard court, which is my favorite surface.”

In a career-best season for the 21-year-old Czech, she defeated Maria Sharapova to win her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon and become the youngest major title winner in more than three years. She also captured titles at the Brisbane International, the Open GDF SUEZ (Paris) and the Mutua Madrid Open. Kvitova is expected to make her Top 5 debut next week after reaching the semifinals of Toray PPO Tennis (Tokyo). Jana Novotna was the last Czech to compete in singles at the Championships in 1998.

Victoria Azarenka:

“At the start of the year, reaching the Championships is one of the goals you’re aiming for and so I’m really happy to be playing there. I’ve already been to Istanbul to see the site, so I’m excited that I’ve managed to qualify and get back there to play. I think it’s one of the hardest events because you have to play right away against the top players, there’s no match where you can get comfortable,” said Azarenka.

After capturing back to back titles at the Sony Ericsson Open (Miami) and the Andalucía Tennis Experience (Marbella), and finishing as a runner-up at the Mutua Madrid Open and reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon, Azarenka has risen to a career-best ranking of World No.3, the highest singles ranking ever achieved by a Belarusian. 2011 will mark the 22-year-old’s third successive appearance at the Championships, where she is yet to advance past the round-robin stage. Azarenka is also in the running to qualify for the doubles competition with partner Maria Kirilenko of Russia.

Liezel Huber/Lisa Raymond:

“We were so excited to hear that we qualified for the Championships after winning the title in Tokyo today. All this hard work over the last couple of months has paid off. For Liezel and me, to have another chance at playing this tournament is something we’re really looking forward to,” said Raymond.

Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond are two of the WTA’s most decorated doubles players. In the first year as a team, they have reached five finals this year and captured three titles: US Open, the Rogers Cup (Toronto) and the Toray PPO Tennis (Tokyo). Between them, Huber and Raymond own 120 doubles titles, including 11 Grand Slams. Huber, the doubles World No.1, will be making her fifth appearance at the year-end finale. The 35-year-old American is a two-time winner of the Championships, having won in 2007 and 2008 with Cara Black. Raymond, aged 38, returns to the Championships for the 11th time in her career, having first qualified in 1994. She has won the title three times: in 2001 with Rennae Stubbs, and in 2005 and 2006 with Samantha Stosur.

RACE TO THE TEB BNP PARIBAS WTA CHAMPIONSHIPS (as of October 1, 2011)

SINGLES DOUBLES

PLAYER POINTS RACE STANDING TEAM POINTS RACE STANDING

Caroline Wozniacki* 7145 1 Peschke/Srebotnik* 8291 1

Maria Sharapova* 6370 2 Huber/Raymond* 6323 2

Petra Kvitova* 5686 3 Azarenka/Kirilenko 5350 3

Victoria Azarenka* 5450 4 King/Shvedova 5080 4

Li Na 5346 5 Dulko/Pennetta 5006 5

Vera Zvonareva 5050 6 Mirza/Vesnina 4781 6

Samantha Stosur 4895 7

Marion Bartoli 4315 8

Agnieszka Radwanska 3940 9

Andrea Petkovic 3880 10

Francesca Schiavone 3820 11

*Denotes player/team has already qualified