The end of the tennis season is drawing near, and that means one thing; the year-end championships.

The WTA Finals start this coming weekend in Riyadh and, following a dramatic year, promises to provide a fitting end to a thrilling season.

The field has been set with the tour’s biggest names all in action, and the Finals can certainly through up a surprise or two – but who are the most likely title contenders?

In the build-up to the Finals, we’ve decided to rank the eight participants based on how we think they could fare.

Based on overall season form, experience, and recent momentum, here are power rankings – let us know if you agree or disagree in the comments below.

8) Barbora Krejcikova

Krejcikova sits 12th in the race though, thanks to her Wimbledon win, a finish inside the top 20 is enough for her to qualify.

That run at SW19 was remarkable, with the Czech beating the likes of Danielle Collins, Jelena Ostapenko, Elena Rybakina, and Jasmine Paolini to lift the title.

However, her season before then had been difficult due to injuries, and she has again struggled after capturing her second Grand Slam singles title.

Krejcikova has won just five matches since Wimbledon – with three coming at the Olympics – and retired with an injury at the Ningbo Open, her last tournament pre-Finals.

She is a nightmare to play when she is on top form – though that looks unlikely right now.

7) Elena Rybakina

Another player with huge question marks over her is Rybakina, who withdrew from the second round of the US Open – and has not played since.

The Kazakh’s season has had its highs, winning WTA 500 titles in Brisbane, Abu Dhabi, and Stuttgart, alongside reaching the last four of Wimbledon.

However, the 25-year-old has again been dogged by illness and injury throughout 2024, pulling out of multiple events pre or mid-tournament.

Rybakina has played just three matches since SW19, and it is hard to know what to expect from her in Riyadh.

6) Jasmine Paolini

Paolini’s rise from world No 30 at the end of 2023 to reaching a new career-high of fourth – and contesting two major finals – has been nothing short of remarkable.

The Italian shocked many with victory at the WTA 1000 event in Dubai, though her runner-up finishes at Roland Garros and Wimbledon showed she was no flash in the pan.

Her results since the summer have been consistent but have not quite hit the heights she did across the first half of the year; there is a sense her momentum has stalled slightly.

The 28-year-old is also one of just two women in the field making her debut, meaning there might be a slight disadvantage experience-wise.

WTA Tour News

WTA Rankings: Aryna Sabalenka stretches lead over Iga Swiatek, Jasmine Paolini up to No 4, Sofia Kenin +67

The 5 highest-ranked Italian women in WTA history: Jasmine Paolini joint 1st

5) Jessica Pegula

Few have had a season as topsy-turvy as Pegula, with the 2023 WTA Finals runner-up struggling early on before surging across the summer.

After erratic form and injury struggles across the first part of 2024, the American impressed by winning in Berlin, though failed to make an impact at Wimbledon or the Olympics.

However, she starred across the hard court summer, defending her Canadian Open title before reaching the finals of the Cincinnati and US Open.

That surge effectively sealed qualification for the world No 6, though her Asian swing was a little underwhelming; she’ll need to rediscover her hard-court summer form to have a chance.

4) Zheng Qinwen

Perhaps the wildcard of the field, Qinwen entered the Asian swing scrambling for points to make the Finals – but now enters the year-end championships as one of the form players.

After her run to the Australian Open final, the Chinese star struggled to back up her top-10 status, with a round-one loss at Wimbledon the lowest point of her season.

However, she is 28-4 since then, most notably winning the Olympics, but also triumphing in Tokyo and Palermo, reaching the final in Wuhan, and the last eight of the US Open.

Qinwen trails in her head-to-head against five of her seven fellow finalists, though in her current form she could do some damage on her event debut.

3) Coco Gauff

Choosing between Gauff and Qinwen for third was the toughest choice we had to make but, thanks to her experience, the American just edges it.

It helps that Gauff has also returned to form recently, winning the China Open title and reaching the last four in Wuhan after a difficult summer was compounded by her US Open exit.

There are vulnerabilities in the 20-year-old’s game – her 21 doubles faults in her Wuhan exit highlight that – but she is a reliable and consistent performer at the biggest events.

Making her third straight appearance at the WTA Finals, it is not impossible to picture her bettering her semi-final showing from 2023.

2) Iga Swiatek

In terms of momentum, Swiatek would not rank highly, with the Pole having not played since her disappointing US Open quarter-final defeat to Pegula.

However, this is a player who has won five titles this year – including a fourth triumph at Roland Garros – and who won the Finals last year without dropping a set.

The unknown around her is her new coaching partnership with Wim Fissette, and whether the Belgian has had enough time to address the issues that may have plagued her this summer.

But the Pole’s credentials speak for herself, and she has to be considered a leading contender at any event she plays.

1) Aryna Sabalenka

Sabalenka is top of the world rankings, top of the race rankings – and top of our power rankings; she is a solid favourite to lift the WTA Finals title.

That is largely down to her form in recent months, with the Belarusian storming to the Cincinnati Open title before winning her third major at the US Open, and then winning her third Wuhan Open title.

Sabalenka also successfully defended her Australian Open title this year, reached finals in Madrid and Rome, and was able to bounce back from the heartbreak of her Wimbledon withdrawal.

If the world No 1 can play close to or at the level she has produced in recent months, it will be tough for anyone to stop her.

Read Next: 2024 WTA prize money leaders – Aryna Sabalenka leads Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff up to 4th