Ashleigh Barty and Aryna Sabalenka Qualify for WTA Finals, Naomi Osaka Most Likely Out From Race

It’s continuing to be a tumultuous year for four-time major champion Naomi Osaka as she witnessed a dip in her singles ranking. The Japanese player dropped out of top-5 for the first time in nearly three years.

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Naomi Osaka struggled with form throughout the year after winning the Australian Open

Osaka had a magnificent start to the year as she won the Australian Open after defeating top contenders like Garbine Muguruza, Ons Jabeur, and Serena Williams. The Japanese star has always remained extremely selective of the tournaments she plays and took a gap after clinching her fourth major title.

She returned to the WTA tour at the Miami Open, where she was stunned by Maria Sakkari in the quarter-finals. Osaka’s downfall began from this point as she failed to bounce back to form in the tournaments she played after Miami.

The controversy surrounding her decision to skip pressers at Roland Garros had an impact on her on-court performance as the noise around Osaka during that time made her withdraw from the French Open abruptly.

It was an unexpected situation for the Japanese player as she took time to make peace with it and took some time off before making an entry into the US hard-court season.

Having shown incredible success on hard courts over the years, every one expected Osaka to defend her US Open title but the Japanese star lost in the third-round against Leylah Fernandez.

These back-to-back defeats hampered Osaka’s chances in the year-end WTA Finals. According to the latest rankings published on Monday, the Japanese player dropped to no.8 and is now seventh in the race to WTA Finals to be held in Guadalajara.

Barty, Sabalenka, and Krejcikova have qualified for the WTA Finals in Guadalajara

Out of the current top-8 players, Ashleigh Barty, Aryna Sabalenka, and Barbora Krejcikova have already qualified to the year-end championship owing to their consistent performances over the past few months.

Other players like Karolina Pliskova, Iga Swiatek, and Maria Sakkari appear close enough to qualify for the year-end championship soon.

World no.1 Ash Barty won four titles this year, including Wimbledon Championships. She also reached the finals of Madrid Masters. Barty has been exceptional in handling adversities on-court and defeated contemporaries on multiple occasions to stay on top.

Coming to Aryna Sabalenka, the Belarusian was not only successful in singles but produced great results on the doubles side as well, partnering with compatriots Elise Mertens and Victoria Azarenka.

Sabalenka won Madrid Masters and reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon and the recently concluded US Open as well. Both the semi-final contests were close and the matches could’ve gone either way. It was unfortunate for Sabalenka to not have reached a major final this year.

Out of the three stars that qualified, it was Barbora Krejcikova who surprised one and all by winning the French Open title after defeating the likes of Karolina Pliskova, Elina Svitolina, Coco Gauff, and Maria Sakkari.

Osaka needs to play more matches to have consistent winning momentum

The Czech player also clinched the doubles title at Roland Garros this year by partnering with Katerina Siniakova. Since the triumph at Roland Garros, Krejcikova managed to reach the quarter-finals of Cincinnati Masters as well as the US Open.

For Naomi Osaka to have a long run, it seems evident that she will have to play more tournaments and have enough matches under her belt to win major titles.

With her announcement of taking an indefinite break from tennis, Osaka’s spot at the WTA Finals will most likely be replaced by Ons Jabeur. American teenage sensation Coco Gauff also has a fair chance of making it to the year-end event.

Also read: “Frauds”: Renowned British Broadcaster Attacks Naomi Osaka After Her Met Gala 2021 Appearance