Bianca Andreescu’s whirlwind 2019 has earned her a berth in the year-end WTA Finals.
The WTA announced Sunday that Andreescu, as well as Romania’s Simona Halep, had secured spots in the final premier event of the season.
The WTA also announced that Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski has qualified in doubles with partner Xu Yifan of China.
The WTA Finals pits the top eight singles players in the season’s point rankings against each other in a round robin tournament. The 2019 edition will take place in Shenzhen, China from Oct. 27 to Nov. 3.
“This has been an incredible year for me and I’m really looking forward to ending the season at the Shiseido WTA Finals Shenzhen,” said Andreescu in a statement. “I’ve always dreamt of competing at the WTA Finals and I’m so proud of all the work my team and I put in to get to this point.”
Earning a berth in the WTA Finals is just the latest of many achievements for Andreescu this season. The Mississauga, Ont., native won the U.S. Open in September, plus two Premier events in Indian Wells and the Rogers Cup in Toronto. After entering the season ranked 178th in the world, Andreescu has now reached a career-high No. 5.
At age 19, Andreescu is the youngest player to qualify for the WTA Finals in singles since Caroline Wozniacki in 2009. She is also the fourth Canadian to qualify in singles, and the first since Eugenie Bouchard in 2014.
Dabrowski and Xu will compete as a team in the WTA Finals for the third consecutive year. Their 2019 season was highlighted by an appearance in the Wimbledon final, as well as a win in Nurnberg. They also finished runners-up in Madrid, and reached four other semifinals.
“It’s an honour to have made the year-end championships for the third time in a row, and to have another opportunity to compete against the best in the world,” said Dabrowski in a statement.
Halep and Andreescu are the third and fourth singles players to qualify for the tournament, joining Australia’s Ashleigh Barty and the Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova. Dabrowski and Xu are the fourth doubles pair to earn a spot, with Barbora Strycova and Hsieh Su-Wei, Elise Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka, and Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic already qualified.
