Four American women could qualify for WTA Finals for first time in 23 years

A new golden age of American women's tennis is upon us.

The year 2025 saw an American woman reach the finals of all four majors for the first time since 2002, with Madison Keys (Australian Open winner), Coco Gauff (French Open winner) and Amanda Anisimova (Wimbledon and U.S. Open runner-up) going the distance.

The season is set to culminate with another significant landmark, as up to four American women could qualify for the WTA Finals for the first time since 2002. As of this writing, World No. 3 Gauff, No. 4 Anisimova and No. 7 Keys have secured their spots in the year-ending tournament, while No. 6 Pegula is on the brink of doing the same. 

A feat 23 years in the making

Pegula, who has 4,653 points in the live WTA rankings, all but locked up her spot by advancing to the fourth round of the Wuhan Open on Monday. Her chances to qualify received a further boost as Mirra Andreeva suffered an upset loss to Laura Siegemund at the same event.

The 2002 WTA Finals was the last time when four of the eight spots went to Americans, with Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Jennifer Capriati and Monica Seles representing the USA at the event. 

"I'm so proud of them," former World No. 1 Tracy Austin told Tennis Channel, while praising the growth of American women's tennis.

Former World No. 3 Pam Shriver acknowledged that American women dominating tennis hasn't been the norm for a while. 

"There have been many eras in women’s tennis where having four USA women in the top eight was kind of normal. And to see it back is great," she said.  "But this is the last time it happened [in 2002], over 20 years ago. And look at those names. They are legendary names in U.S. tennis."