Cluj-Napoca, Romania: Anett Kontaveit defeated top seeded home hope Simona Halep to win the Transylvania Open on Sunday and secure a maiden spot in the season-ending WTA Finals.
The Estonian eased to a 6-2, 6-3 victory for a fourth title of 2021, all of them coming in the last 10 weeks.
As well as being the first player representing Estonia to make the year-ending championships, Kontaveit is projected to make her Top 10 debut in Monday’s rankings.
On the 23rd of August, Anett Kontaveit was sitting in the 30th place in the WTA Race (1318 pts), 987 behind Ons Jabeur.
— Damian Kust (@damiankust) October 31, 2021
26 wins, 2 losses, and four titles later, Anett Kontaveit earns 1743 pts in 70 days, beating Jabeur by 41 for the last WTA Finals spot. What a journey.
Sunday’s title added to her trophies this season at Cleveland, Ostrava and Moscow.
Having won 26 of her last 28 matches, Kontaveit joins Aryna Sabalenka, Barbora Krejcikova, Karolina Pliskova, Maria Sakkari, Iga Swiatek, Garbine Muguruza and Paula Badosa in the WTA Finals in Guadalajara next month.