Belinda Bencic and Timea Bacsinszky have withdrawn from the WTA Elite Trophy due to injury, while Venus Williams has decided to extend her season and will be the top seed at the season-ending event.
The tournament, which is being played in the Chinese city of Zhuhai for the first time and has been altered to feature players ranked between Nos. 9-20 who did not get into the WTA Finals, consists of 12 players.
Bencic experienced a hand injury at Beijing. No. 10-ranked Bacsinszky, who would have been the event's top player, retired at Luxembourg with a knee problem.
However, Williams, who indicated a few weeks ago that she might not want to play again this season, seems to have reconsidered. She showed up as the WTA Finals alternate in Singapore and has been announced as the top player for the WTA Elite Trophy. "I have been playing with an injury," she said previously. "To extend my season for three more weeks may not be... good."
Other entrants in Zhuhai include Carla Suarez Navarro, Karolina Pliskova, Roberta Vinci, and Caroline Wozniacki, who also considered not playing the event. "I took a day where I thought, can I motivate myself enough to play the tournament and can I work through in these weeks leading up to it," she told Ekstra Bladet.
Entry is mandatory for eligible players who are not at Singapore, though one top player, Agnieszka Radwanska, has said players should not be required to play the event and also that it carries too many points, potentially allowing some players to move into the Top 8 following the WTA Finals.
Ana Ivanovic, ranked No. 16, No. 22 Victoria Azarenka, and No. 23 Ekaterina Makarova—who withdrew from Singapore doubles with a leg injury—as well as No. 25 Samantha Stosur are not playing.