Stephens qualifies for first WTA finals

SINGAPORE, Oct 15, (RTRS): Former US Open champion Sloane Stephens has qualified for her first seasonending WTA Finals in Singapore, the WTA Tour said on Monday.

Stephens joins fellow Grand Slam champions Simona Halep, Angelique Kerber, Naomi Osaka, Petra Kvitova and Caroline Wozniacki in the singles field for the Oct 21-28 event.

Two spots remain open for the elite eight-player field, with Elina Svitolina and Karolina Pliskova in prime position to qualify for the round-robin tournament that offers $7 million in prize money.

The American also won her first Premier-level event in Miami earlier this year and rose to a career-high ranking of three in July. The 25-year-old was also a runner-up in Montreal.

Stephens won her first Grand Slam title at Flushing Meadows in 2017 but was knocked out in the quarter-finals by Anastasija Sevastova this year.

Osaka won the US Open, while Kerber won Wimbledon and Wozniacki clinched the Australian Open title this year. final 12.2 overs after being set a daunting target of 462 runs.

“We want to win every series we are involved in,” Paine said Monday. “We are focusing on what we do and if we can do well for five days then we have a really good chance of winning it.

“We are reasonably confident. After the last few days we got a little bit of relief and a little bit of mileage, so we know if we play our best cricket we have got a chance to win this Test match.

“We are coming into this Test with a bit more momentum and guys know what to expect a bit more in these conditions,” said Paine, who announced paceman Mitchell Starc will play in Abu Dhabi.

That is hint enough that Australia are likely to keep the same starting XI.

Paine admitted Pakistan were a “very good team”.

“They have some good batters, particularly in these conditions. We know what we are up against and we know they are an excellent team and even better in these conditions.”