Reuters/Singapore


Top seed Simona Halep (pic) was yesterday pooled with Grand Slam winners Maria Sharapova (pic, right) and Flavia Pennetta in a formidable looking Red Group for the end-of-season WTA Finals in Singapore.
With world number one and defending champion Serena Williams opting out after narrowly missing out on a rare calendar Grand Slam, Romanian Halep is the highest seed for the eight woman end-of-season championships, which begins tomorrow.
Halep, who lost to Williams in the final last year after beating the American in the pool stage, was drawn against Italian Pennetta, who lifted a shock US Open title after compatriot Roberta Vinci beat Williams in the last four.
The Romanian, winner at Indian Wells earlier this year, will also take on Russian multiple Grand Slam winner Sharapova, who lost in the Australian Open final to Williams in January.
Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska, who won her 16th career title in China last week, rounded out the group from which the top two will advance to the semi-finals after round robin play.
Awaiting them will be the heavy hitters of the White Group, where Wimbledon finalist Garbine Muguruza of Spain and twice champion of the grass court major Petra Kvitova were pooled together. They were joined by Germany’s Angelique Kerber, who completed the rare feat of winning WTA titles on green clay, red clay, grass and hardcourts this year.
Czech Lucie Safarova, who only qualified for the singles field on Thursday, was the other player in the group.
Safarova, the world number nine and French Open runner-up, will also play in the doubles with American partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands where she has been drawn in the same pool as Muguruza and partner Carla Suarez Navarro.
Safarova took the final qualifying spot for the WTA end-of-season finale after Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro was knocked out of the Kremlin Cup quarter-finals on Thursday.
Suarez Navarro needed to make the final in Russia to overtake the Czech and book a spot in the elite tournament, but was beaten by Russia’s Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 6-2 in her last eight clash.
Safarova will make her debut in the tournament after a standout year where she reached the final of the French Open. She also won the Australian Open and French Open doubles titles with the American.
“I am really excited to qualify for the WTA Finals for the first time,” Safarova, the world number nine, said in a statement. “It has been a dream year and to be one of the eight qualifiers in singles and also compete in the doubles is something that makes me very proud.
“There have already been so many highlights this year, and I hope to finish it playing some more great tennis in front of the amazing Singapore crowd.”
Swiss Timea Bacsinszky and former world number one Venus Williams are first and second alternates if there's a last-minute pullout.