By Erik Gudris/ Monday, October 7, 2013

 

Maria Sharapova announced her withdrawal from the upcoming WTA Championships in Istanbul. Three
more players qualified based on results from last week's China Open.

Photo Credit:AP

Maria Sharapova   announced her withdrawal from the upcoming WTA Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, as three more players booked their spots for the season-ending event.

Sharapova, who continues to deal with an ongoing shoulder injury that forced her out of the US Open, made the announcement on Monday.

"I am very disappointed that I will not be able to play in the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships this year," Sharapova said. "The fans in Istanbul have welcomed us each year with such intense passion and warmth, I will sincerely miss the energy and excitement they brought to the year-end tournament. I want to thank Istanbul for being a tremendous host and hope to play in Turkey sometime in the future."

With her withdrawal, Sharapova effectively ends her 2013 season with a 37-7 win/loss record that included winning Indian Wells and reaching the French Open finals.

Errani, Kvitova, Jankovic Qualify for Istanbul

With Sharapova's withdrawal, Italy's Sara Errani, Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic and Serbia's Jelena Jankovic all booked their spots for Istanbul per the WTA.

Errani's season includes winning her seventh WTA title in Acapulco and reaching three finals. Kvitova, who won Istanbul in 2011, qualified with title runs in Dubai and Tokyo.

Jankovic, who last appeared at the event in 2010, secured her berth by reaching the China Open finals in Beijing.

Serena Williams, Agnieszka Radwanska and Li Na were confirmed for the tournament earlier in the season.

That leaves one final place still open for the eight-woman round robin event. A handful of players still have a chance to qualify based on their results in the final two weeks of the regular season.

Germany's Angelique Kerber, currently in eighth place in the points race, competes this week in Linz. Trailing Kerber in the race are Caroline Wozniacki, Sloane Stephens and Roberta Vinci, who all have an outside chance at qualifying.

The WTA Championships doubles event is also set, with the top four teams announced last week. They include world No.1's Errani and Vinci along with Peng Shuai and Su-Wei Hsieh, Nadia Petrova and Katarina Srebotnik, and Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova.

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