Elite eight of women's tennis ready for battle

IT'S that time of the year when - at the end of another gruelling season - the crème de la crème of women's tennis battle it out one more time to be crowned this year's top singles player and doubles team.

This Sunday in Shenzhen, eight of the world's female tennis singles stars and doubles pairings are in action at the Shiseido Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Finals Shenzhen, a week-long tournament that boasts a record prize purse of US$14 million.

All eight singles players have already qualified for the competition, the first of ten editions that will be staged at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Centre in the southwestern Chinese city. BT Weekend takes a closer look at each of them, based on their ranking in the Porsche Race to Shenzhen leaderboard.