Finding herself outside the top-50 in March, Petra Martic halved her ranking with several impressive outings within just two months. Her crafty tennis finally received recognition this year as she broke new grounds in her career, entering the top-20 for the first time and now booking herself a spot at the year-end WTA Elite Trophy, a tournament for players ranked 9th to 19th.
Per the WTA Insider, Martic has managed to reach the quarterfinals at every stage of the tour this year. Ironically, she had to wait until April for her first quarterfinal appearance this season. Her breakthrough run to the last four at the Volvo Car Open kickstarted her rise, and went on to lift the Istanbul title before stunning Muguruza en route a Madrid quarterfinal run.
Martic reached new heights in her career, finally managing to break the duck at Majors as she made the last eight at Roland Garros, where she lost the eventual finalist Vondrousova. The Croatian reached five consecutive quarterfinals from April to June and was a huge threat to the top players.
She reached the biggest final of her career at the Premier event in Zhengzhou and a quarterfinal run in Wuhan ultimately allowed her to crack the top-20 for the first time, in what can be considered her second career.
Other qualified players include Johanna Konta, Sofia Kenin, Madison Keys and Aryna Sabalenka. Players will compete in a three-player Round Robin with the winner of each group progressing to the semifinals.