Venus Williams returns to the year-end WTA Finals for the first time since reaching the 2009 final, and the fifth time overall, starting on Sunday in Singapore. Williams joins top-ranked Simona Halep of Romania, second-ranked Garbine Muguruza of Spain, third-ranked Karolina Pliskova of Czech Republic, fourth-ranked Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, sixth-ranked Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, seventh-ranked Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia and ninth-ranked Caroline Garcia of France. They're all pretty special,'' said Williams, of her career appearances in the year-end competition. ''It's the end of the year. Only Top 8 get here. It's definitely something well earned.'' At 37-years-old, Williams is the third oldest player to qualify for the year-end championships behind a 39-year-old Billie Jean King in 1983, and a 38-year-old Martina Navratilova in 1994. Williams is the oldest player in this draw with 27-year-old Wozniacki the next oldest. Having played since 1995, Williams has seen the women's game advance, saying: ''The competition is so much greater. It's a beautiful change, in fact.'' In 2008, Williams won the WTA Finals title, going 3-0 in the round-robin, and defeating Vera Zvonareva of Russia in the final. She was also was a semifinalist in her first two appearances in the finals, in 1999 and 2000. Williams reached two Grand Slam finals this season at the Australian Open, where she lost to what turned out to be an already pregnant younger sister, Serena, and at Wimbledon, where she fell to Muguruza. Every player but Garcia has a possibility of playing themselves into the year-end No. 1 ranking depending on their result this week. Williams has ranked No. 1 for 11 weeks of her career. In the round-robin, Williams is situated in the White Group with fellow big-hitters Muguruza and Pliskova, who both ranked No. 1 at some time during this season, and French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko. Williams opens the competition against Pliskova on Sunday. The two are tied at one match apiece in their head-to-head. She holds a 3-2 winning record over Muguruza and is 1-0 over Ostapenko. ''I think my group is more aggressive style players in the group and the other one is more defending,'' Pliskova said. ''I just like to play better these players. ''I start with Venus tomorrow, so I beat her once from match point and once I lost very close match. This one is open.'' (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
