Venus Williams targets WTA finals berth

Venus Williams has headed to Hong Kong hoping she can get a ticket to Singapore.

Williams enters the Hong Kong Open knowing that a strong showing there can put her name back where it used to be a mainstay – the season-ending WTA finals for the world’s elite.

“This is it,” Williams said on Saturday.

“This is my last tournament before the season-ending championship and my last chance to do well. Hopefully I can enter the top seven or eight (in the world). It is not going to be easy as there is a strong field in Hong Kong.”

The WTA finals feature the top eight players in the Race to Singapore rankings based on this year’s results, a list on which 35-year-old Williams is currently 11th.

And since sister Serena is sitting out the remainder of the year, she only has to make up two places to qualify.

Williams hasn’t played in the WTA finals since 2009, when it was held in Doha. She qualified for the 2010 event, but withdrew with a knee injury.

Williams missed out on valuable points when she was eliminated in the second round of the China Open by Ana Ivanovic last week, but won the Wuhan Open the week before that for her 47th WTA singles title.

“I don’t know if this is a comeback or a come-up, I just want to win matches and tournaments,” she said.

The Hong Kong field includes two other players expecting to be in Singapore in Angelique Kerber of Germany and Garbine Muguruza of Spain, along with former top-ranked Jelena Jankovic and grand slam tournament winners Francesca Schiavone and Sam Stosur.

Play starts on Monday.

Stay up to date with the latest sports news
Follow our social accounts to get exclusive content and all the latest sporting news!