SAMANTHA Stosur's anxious wait is over, with the Australian tennisace clinching her place yesterday in this month's prestigious season-ending championship in Doha.
The French Open runner-up was confirmed as a starter when world No.3 Venus Williams ruled herself out for the rest of the year with a knee injury.
Stosur, 26, opted out of the Commonwealth Games, where she would have been top seed and a raging gold medal favourite, to focus on the championships.
But her season of hope and promise was in danger of ending in disappointment after back-to-back first-up losses, in Tokyo and Beijing, over the past fortnight.
Only the world's top eight qualify for Doha and Stosur was precariously ranked No.8 before blowing a match point and a 5-2 third-set advantage against little-known Latvian Anastasija Sevastova at this week's China Open.
The untimely form slump had Stosur (pictured) reluctantly considering a mad dash to Europe to chase rankings points in Luxembourg and Moscow to secure her ticket to Doha.
Fortunately for her, that won't be necessary following early losses for Jelena Jankovic and Victoria Azarenka in Beijing and Williams' scratching.
Stosur can concentrate instead on defending her title next week inOsaka before lining up with the world's elite in the Qatar capital from October 26-31.
aI'm thrilled to make the WTA Championships in Doha,a Stosur said.
aI've been there a few times for doubles, so to qualify in singlesis very exciting. It's always been a goal of mine to achieve this.
aIt's a privilege for me to compete against the best in the world.a
Stosur will be striving to become the first Australian woman to win the season-ending championship since Evonne Goolagong-Cawley in 1976. a AAP
