St Petersburg (USA), Oct 21 (IANS): Aryna Sabalenka and Daria Kasatkina qualified for the 2022 WTA Finals, joining World No.1 Iga Swiatek, Ons Jabeur, Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff and Caroline Garcia in the singles draw, the WTA announced on Thursday.

Sabalenka will be making her second appearance at the season-ending tournament in singles. She contested the group stages in 2021. She also qualified in doubles with Elise Mertens in 2019. Kasatkina earned her debut qualification for the WTA Finals this season. She served as an alternate in 2018.

Sabalenka reached two finals this season, at the WTA 500 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart and the WTA 250 Libema Open in 's-Hertogenbosch. She reached the semifinals at two WTA 1000 events, at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia (Rome) and Western & Southern Open (Cincinnati) and also made the last four at the US Open, her joint-best singles Grand Slam result.

Kasatkina has triumphed at two tournaments in 2022 to secure her place in Fort Worth, winning the WTA 500 Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose and the WTA 250 Championnats Banque Nationale de Granby. She boosted her qualification chances further through semifinal runs at the WTA 250 Melbourne Sumer Set, WTA 500 Sydney Tennis Classic, WTA 1000 Internazionali BNL d'Italia (Rome) and Roland Garros, which marked her best Grand Slam result.

Kasatkina returned to the Top 10 this summer for the first time since January 2019, posting a new career high of No.9 on August 8.

The 2022 WTA Finals features the Top 8 singles players and doubles teams on the Race to the WTA Finals who will competed in a round-robin format with the singles champion lifting the WTA Finals Billie Jean King Trophy and the doubles champions earning the WTA Finals Martina Navratilova Trophy.