Race to Istanbul: Stosur to Make Push

Stakes are high in Asia with the first of two prestigious events already underway.

By Chris Oddo

(September 25, 2012) -- Agnieszka Radwanska became the fourth player -- along with Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams -- to qualify for the WTA Championships in Istanbul this week, but there is still room for players who are on the outside looking in to make a push to grab one of the four final spots at the prestigious event.

With Petra Kvitova, Angelique Kerber, Sara Errani and Li Na holding spots five through eight as the WTA Tour heads into the meat of the Asian swing this week in Tokyo, Sam Stosur, Marion Bartoli and the suddenly hot Caroline Wozniacki are still alive in the hunt.

But Stosur, Bartoli and Wozniacki have their work cut out for them. Each will have to do lots of winning over the next four weeks -- and lots of scoreboard watching too.

Besides the prestige of the event, which will be held on Oct. 23-28 at the Sinan Erdem in Istanbul, players stand to receive a guaranteed $110k with the chance to earn up to $1.75 million in Turkey.

Here’s a quick look a the standings as well as a peek at the schedules for the players who have a chance to qualify. Of note is the fact that Stosur, currently ranked 9th in the race, is scheduled to play four events in the next four weeks, while Li Na, currently ranked 8th, is not scheduled for anything beyond Beijing.

Key: Tok=Tokyo, Bej=Beijing, Linz=Linz, Lux=Luxembourg,
Mos=Moscow, Osa=Osaka

Current Rank	Name	Country	Points	Schedule
1	Azarenka	Belarus	qualified	Tok, Bej, Linz
2	Sharapova	Russia	qualified	Tok, Bej
3	Williams, Serena	USA	qualified	Beijing
4	Radwanska	Poland	qualified	Tok, Bej
5	Kvitova	Czech Republic	5310	Tok, Bej,
6	Kerber	Germany	5080	Tok, Bej, Lux
7	Errani	Italy	4820	Tok, Bej, Mos
8	Li	China	4152	Tok, Bej,
9	Stosur	Australia	3571	Tok, Bej, Osa, Mos
10	Bartoli	France	3345	Tok, Bej, Mos
11	Wozniacki	Denmark	3155	Tok, Bej,
12	Cibulkova	Slovakia	2445	Tok, Bej, Linz, Mos