Caroline Wozniacki, Sloane Stephens named WTA Championships – Istanbul alternates

Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki and United States’ Sloane Stephens have been determined to be the first and second alternates of the WTA Championships 2013 Istanbul which is slated to begin on Monday, October 21.

This is Wozniacki’s fourth time to be part of the prestigious season-ending event, having qualified for the first time in 2009 (lost in the semifinals to Serena Williams), 2010 (lost in the final to Kim Clijsters) and 2011 (lost in the round robin).

Wozniacki posted strong results this season, albeit falling short of winning a title so far. She’s competing at the Luxembourg Open this week where she’s reached the final as of the writing and will face Annika Beck of Germany for the title. The Dane reached the final of the Indian Wells and had semifinal finishes in Premier events in Dubai, Eastbourne, New Haven and Tokyo.

Meanwhile, Sloane Stephens earned a ticket as the second alternate for the WTA Championships after reaching fourth round or better at Grand Slam events this year, including a semifinal run at the Australian Open. She’s posted strong finishes in other events outside of the Grand Slam include a semifinal run in Hobart and five quarterfinal finishes in both International and Premier events.

Wozniacki and Stephens will travel to Istanbul for the WTA Championships where the winner will get a lion’s share of the record $6 million prize money. The top eight players competing are Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Agnieszka Radwanska, Li Na, Sara Errani, Petra Kvitova, Jelena Jankovic and Angelique Kerber. The four doubles teams are Errani and Roberta Vinci, Hsieh Su-Wei and Peng Shuai, Nadia Petrova and Katarina Srebotnik, and Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina. Sara Errani is the only player taking part in both singles and doubles.

In case a player pulls out of the event, Wozniacki will take her place first and if another player pulls out during the round robin stage then Stephens will enter the event.