US Open champion Stephens heads to China

US Open tennis tournament champion Sloane Stephens will lead the charge to the year-ending WTA Elite Trophy China, along with in-form Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Elena Vesnina and Latvian Anastasija Sevastova.

Stephens had an extraordinary comeback by lifting the trophy at Flushing Meadows last month in an all-American final against Madison Keys, after spending the early part of the 2017 season with her foot in a cast following surgery, reports Xinhua news agency.

"I'm excited to be coming to Zhuhai," said American Stephens. "Qualifying for an elite year-end event is a great reward at the end of what has been an incredible year for me. I can't wait to compete hard against those other great players and try and end this season on a high."

Stephens returned to the WTA Tour in July, and this would mark her first time for a season-ending tournament.

Tournament Director Jose-Miguel Garcia said: "Sloane's fairytale US Open captured the world's imagination and qualifying for Zhuhai is another recognition of her amazing achievement.

"Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova has such a great week in Hong Kong so she is finishing the year strongly. Elena and Anastasija have both had outstanding seasons too. We're thrilled that these four incredibly talented players are coming to Zhuhai."

--IANS

sam/mr