After loss to Iga Swiatek, Daria Kasatkina takes a dig at rule that allowed Barbora Krejcikova to qualify for WTA Finals

Daria Kasatkina recently expressed her views on Barbora Krejcikova receiving the final spot at the 2024 WTA Finals. Krejcikova was ranked 13th in the women's singles rankings before the year-end championships in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia began. However, she made the cut thanks to her Wimbledon title run earlier in the season.

According to the qualifying rules for the WTA Finals, the first seven spots are reserved for the seven highest-ranked players before the tournament. The eighth and final spot goes to either the eighth-highest pro in the rankings or a player who won a Major that year and was ranked in the 8-20 range.

Thanks to the aforementioned rule, Barbora Krejcikova qualified for the WTA Finals and has made the most of the opportunity. After wasting a set lead to lose against Iga Swiatek in her round-robin opener, the 28-year-old downed Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula to top her group and reach the semifinals.

World No. 9 Kasatkina, meanwhile, made the trip to Riyadh as the first alternate (since Emma Navarro, ranked eighth, declined the first alternate spot). The Russian replaced the injured Pegula for just one match and lost 1-6, 0-6 to Swiatek, marking a disappointing end to her second career appearance at the year-end championships.

Following her loss, Kasatkina spoke to The National about the criterion that allowed Barbora Krejcikova to qualify for the elite eight tournament ahead of her. She maintained that all the spots at the event should've been decided based on the WTA Race rankings regardless of whether or not a player won a Grand Slam tournament.

"In my opinion, the WTA Race is the WTA Race. So it's about the how many points you earn during the year. If you win a Grand Slam, you already got what you achieved," Daria Kasatkina told the National. "You won the Grand Slam, points, money, glory, everything. Here it's the WTA Race. So I think in this scenario, it has to go by points."

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Barbora Krejcikova to face Zheng Qinwen for a place in the championship match of WTA Finals 2024

Barbora Krejcikova celebrates after beating Coco Gauff at WTA Finals

Barbora Krejcikova will next face World No. 7 Zheng Qinwen in the semifinals of the WTA Finals on Friday, November 8. Provided she wins, the Czech will face either World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka or the third-ranked Coco Gauff for the title in Riyadh.

Krejcikova's performance at the 2024 edition of the year-end championships is by far her career's best. The former World No. 2 qualified for the singles competition in 2021, where she went 0-3 in the round-robin stage. She had qualified for the 2023 event as an alternate but didn't get a chance to play a single match.

The 2021 French Open champion didn't have an exceptional season in 2024 by any means, as she failed to go past the last-eight stage in 14 of her 15 events. However, a tournament where she went all the way was Wimbledon, where she downed Elena Rybakina and Jasmine Paolini to nab her second Major title.