Will the Tournament of Champions be without Czech participation after twelve years?

The top eight female tennis players from the previous calendar year always qualify for the Tournament of Champions. Now it seems that after twelve years it could be held without Czech participation. However, if Barbora Krejcikova follows up on her previous performances, this tradition could be maintained.

The last time the Tournament of Champions was held without a Czech player was in 2010. Caroline Wozniacki and Kim Clijsters clashed in the final, and the now thirty-nine-year-old Belgian was able to win after 6:3, 5:7 and 6:3.

Since then, the Tournament of Champions has always featured at least one player from the Czech Republic(2011:: Petra Kvitova – winner, 2012:: Petra Kvitová – group, 2013:: Petra Kvitová – semi-final, 2014:: Petra Kvitová – group, 2015:: Petra Kvitova – final, Lucie Safarova – group, 2016:: Karolina Pliskova – group, 2017:: Karolina Pliskova – semifinals, 2018:: Karolina Pliskova – semifinal, Petra Kvitova – group, 2019:: Karolina Pliskova – semifinals, Petra Kvitova – group, Karolina Pliskova – group, 2021:: Karolina Pliskova – group, Barbora Krejcikova – group).

So far, only world number one Iga Swiatek and Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur have qualified for this year’s Tournament of Champions. However, Jessica Pegula (3233 points) is also very close to qualifying. The current eighth player has 2661 points.

The best of the Czech tennis players is Petra Kvitová (2038 points), who can be found in the sixteenth place. Her triumph in Eastbourne, England, and the final of the tournament in Cincinnati helped her to achieve this.

Just behind her is Barbora Krejcikova (1850 points), who has been helped tremendously by the last two tournaments. The native of Ivančice managed to conquer the events in Tallinn and Ostrava, which catapulted her to 20th place.

The peak of the women’s tennis season is scheduled for 31 October – 7 November. Until then, the players have time to accumulate a sufficient number of points. San Diego and Cluj tournaments are on the schedule now, with the Guadalajara event starting on October 17.

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