Kerber and Osaka to meet at WTA Finals

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Bengaluru, Oct 19: Top seed Angelique Kerber will face Naomi Osaka, Sloane Stephens and Kiki Bertens in the round-robin phase of the WTA Finals.

The two groups for the lucrative season-ending competition were drawn on Friday at a glitzy ceremony in Singapore, which is hosting the event for the last time.

Wimbledon champion Kerber, elevated to top seed after world number one Simona Halep withdrew through injury, was drawn alongside the three tournament debutants in the Red Group.

Osaka and Stephens are the last two winners of the US Open, the former claiming a stunning breakthrough success last month, while Bertens' place in the field was confirmed earlier this week when Halep pulled out.

The White Group will feature defending WTA Finals champion Caroline Wozniacki, 2011 winner Petra Kvitova, Elina Svitolina and Karolina Pliskova.

Like Kerber and Osaka, Wozniacki was also a slam-winner in 2018, claiming the Australian Open title in Melbourne.

Kvitova has more titles this year than any other player, having won tournaments in St Petersburg, Doha, Prague, Madrid and Birmingham, while Svitolina and Pliskova joined Bertens in confirming qualification for Singapore this week.

The top two players from each pool will meet in the semi-finals.

After this season's event, which begins on Sunday, the tournament will be hosted in Shenzhen, China for the next 10 years.

WTA Finals draw

Red Group

Angelique Kerber (1), Naomi Osaka (3), Sloane Stephens (5), Kiki Bertens (8)

White Group

Caroline Wozniacki (2), Petra Kvitova (4), Elina Svitolina (6), Karolina Pliskova (7)