FIELD COMPLETE FOR TEB BNP PARIBAS WTA CHAMPIONSHIPS-ISTANBUL

Written by: Staff on 21st October 2011

FIELD COMPLETE FOR TEB BNP PARIBAS WTA CHAMPIONSHIPS-ISTANBUL

Poland's Agnieszka Radwandska returns the ball to Germany's Andrea Petkovic during their women's singles final of the China Open Tennis tournament in Beijing, China, 09 October 2011. Radwandska won 7-5, 0-6 and 6-4. EPA/ADRIAN BRADSHAW |

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) today announced that Agnieszka Radwanska has secured the final singles spot in the field of the prestigious TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships, to be hosted at the state of the art Sinan Erdem Arena in Istanbul, Turkey from October 25-30, 2011.

Radwanska completes the field that features Caroline Wozniacki, Maria Sharapova, Petra Kvitova, Victoria Azarenka, Li Na, Vera Zvonareva and Samantha Stosur. France’s Marion Bartoli and Germany’s Andrea Petkovic will travel to Istanbul as singles alternates.

The competition will also feature the doubles teams of Kveta Peschke/Katarina Srebotnik, Liezel Huber/Lisa Raymond, Gisela Dulko/Flavia Pennetta and Vania King/Yaroslava Shvedova.

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.

“I’d like to congratulate Agnieszka on clinching the last spot at the Championships. Agnieszka has played some incredible tennis this year, particularly in the second part of the season, winning three WTA Premier tournaments along the way,” said Stacey Allaster, Chairman and CEO of the WTA.

Agnieszka Radwanska:

“I’m so happy to finally qualify for the Championships as one of the top eight singles players. Just a few weeks ago I didn’t think I had a chance of qualifying and am now so happy to end my season in Istanbul.”

This year will mark Radwanska’s first appearance at the season-ending Championships as one of the eight qualified singles players, however she has played as an alternate twice before. The 22-year-old has won three Premier titles so far this season: the Mercury Insurance Open (Carlsbad), and back-to-back wins at the Toray Pan Pacific Open (Tokyo) and the China Open. She also reached the semifinals at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart) and the Rogers Cup (Toronto), and won her second career doubles title at the Sony Ericsson Open (Miami) with Daniela Hantuchova.

The singles competition at the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships features eight players and begins as a round robin event, with players divided into two groups of four. Over the first four days of competition, each player meets the other three players in their group, with the top two in each pool moving on to the semifinals. The first-placed player in one group meets the second-placed player in the other group, and vice versa. The winners of each semifinal meet in the championship match. The doubles event features four teams and is a single elimination draw, beginning with the semifinal round.