Sania Mirza-Cara Black lying fourth in Race to Singapore standings

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posted on 10 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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Sania and Cara have a very good chance of qualifying for the finals and it will be a fine achievement for Sania, who has had a good year with a mixed doubles title at US Open this season.

St. Petersburg: Sania Mirza, who will be skipping the Asian Games to focus on qualifying for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals in Singapore, and Cara Black are lying fourth in the Race to Singapore standings with just over a month to go for the season-ending WTA Finals in Singapore.

Meanwhile, the WTA announced that doubles teams - pair of Hsieh Su-Wei and Peng Shuai and duo of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina - have officially qualified for the Finals to be staged at the Singapore Sports Hub from October 17-26.

Hsieh-Peng and Makarova-Vesnina join Italian combo of Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci in doubles.

The remaining five doubles teams will be determined during the WTA's Asian Swing, which is highlighted by the Toray Pan Pacific Open (Tokyo), Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open, China Open (Beijing) and Kremlin Cup (Moscow).

Sania and Cara have a very good chance of qualifying for the finals and it will be a fine achievement for Sania, who has had a good year with a mixed doubles title at US Open this season. Her partnership with Cara has been fruitful as the Indian reached a career high double ranking of fifth in July.

Defending champions at the WTA Finals, Hsieh and Peng reached the No.1 doubles ranking earlier this year, becoming the first Asian team to hold the top spot. In 2014, the pair won titles at Roland Garros, BNP Paribas Open (Indian Wells) and Qatar Total Open (Doha). As a team they own a perfect 12-0 record in finals throughout their career and return to the WTA Finals for the second consecutive year.

Makarova and Vesnina have registered their best season as a team highlighted by a title at the US Open, and runner-up finishes at the Australian Open and Miami Open. They also achieved quarterfinal efforts at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, BNP Paribas Open (Indian Wells), Internazionali BNL d'Italia (Rome) and Rogers Cup (Montreal). They return to the WTA Finals for the second consecutive year, having finished as runners-up in 2013.

The 2014 WTA Finals will feature the top eight singles players competing in a round-robin event, while the top eight doubles teams will be competing in a single-elimination draw.