Serena Williams is behind Maria Sharapova and Eugenie Bouchard--among other players--in both money and points so far this year, despite still holding the No. 1 ranking worldwide.
Williams has struggled in recent tournaments, getting knocked out in early rounds, and isn’t playing in the current Swedish Open, which she won last year.
She is sixth in the Race, also known as the Road to Singapore, with 3211 points.
Sharapova of Russia is first with 4880 points, followed closely by Simona Halep of Romania with 4869. Li Na of China is third with 3970.
Bouchard, the upstart from Canada, has moved into fourth with 3607 points despite only playing 9 tournaments so far this year, less than the rest of the top five. Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic sits ahead of Williams with 3343 points.
Agnieszka of Poland, Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, and Angelique Kerber of Germany round out the top 10. The closest United States player to Williams is Madison Keys at 21st, while Venus Williams and Sloane Stephens are at 24th and 25th respectively.
The qualification cut for the WTA Championships is 5540. No players have qualified yet.
It’s unclear which tournament Williams will next participate in, although it’s doubtful that she would miss the U.S. Open, which starts on August 25. Sharapova’s next tournament is also unclear.
Bouchard is also missing the Cup, as she prepares for the Rogers Cup that starts on August 4.
See an Associated Press story below
Kontaveit ousts top-seeded Cornet at Swedish Open
BASTAD, Sweden—Estonian qualifier Anett Kontaveit upset top-seeded Alize Cornet of France 7-6 (3), 6-3 Tuesday in the first round of the Swedish Open.
The pair broke each other’s serve twice in the first set before the 161st-ranked Kontaveit won the tiebreaker against the 21st-ranked Cornet. The 18-year-old Kontaveit next faces Jana Cepelova of Slovakia.
Cornet wasn’t the only seeded player to go out on Tuesday. Laura Siegemund of Germany defeated fourth-seeded Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 7-5, 6-3, while Richel Hogenkamp of the Netherlands beat fifth-seeded Slovakian Anna Schmiedlova 6-3, 6-1.
Also, Germany’s Dina Pfizenmaier advanced to the second round by defeating two-time winner and eighth-seeded Polona Hercog of Slovenia 7-5, 7-6 (5).
Min upsets Pavlyuchenkova at Swedish Open
BASTAD, Sweden—Grace Min of the United States upset second-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the first round of the Swedish Open on Monday.
The 20-year-old Min, who reached her first WTA semifinal in Bad Gastein last week, beat the 23rd-ranked Russian 6-0, 6-4 after trailing 4-2 in the second set.
Jana Cepelova from Slovakia defeated Swedish wild card Rebecca Peterson 6-4, 6-4, while Irina-Camelia Begu from Romania retired at 4-2 down in the second after losing the opener 6-4 to Spain’s Lara Arruabarrena.
Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa also made it through after beating Mariana Duque-Marino of Colombia, 6-3, 6-4.
Scheepers moved into the main draw when top-seeded Serena Williams announced she would not appear at Bastad this year because she was “still not at 100 percent” after a viral illness.
However, sixth-seeded Annika Beck of Germany beat Poland’s Katarzyna Piter 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 after breaking her serve 10 times.
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