Having been partners for two years, this is the second consecutive year which the pairing of Andreja Klepac and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez has qualified for the year-ending WTA Finals. Another solid year for the Slovenian-Spanish pair saw them rank eighth on the Porsche Race to Singapore leaderboard and claim their second title together as a pair.
Decent 2018 with excellent results
Klepac and Martinez Sanchez started the new year in the best possible way — stunning top seeds Latisha Chan and Andrea Sestini Hlavackova en route to reaching the final at the Brisbane International. Even though they were not able to replicate their form at the Australian Open, the Slovenian-Spanish pair reached their second final of the year at the Qatar Total Open. They also ousted current top-ranked pair Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic in three sets along the way.
Their clay-court season also got off to a great start; reaching their third final at the Volvo Car Open but once again faltered at the last hurdle as they narrowly fell short of grabbing their first title of the year. Consecutive semifinal appearances in Stuttgart and Madrid followed, in the latter whereby they fell 6-7, 6-7 to eventual champions Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.
They reached their first French Open quarterfinal together, defeating the pairing of Serena and Venus Williams in the process. After a long wait, they finally claimed their first title of the year at the Mallorca Open, losing just one set in the process to hoist the trophy as the top seeds.
A semifinal run at the Rogers Cup was their best result recently, and although they have been experiencing a tough stretch of results currently, they look to enter Singapore with a renewed mindset and hoping to regain their form just when it matters.
Last appearance in Singapore
They had qualified for the WTA Finals previously in 2017, when they fell to Timea Babos and Andrea Hlavackova in the opening quarterfinal round of the cruel knockout format. There were little to separate both pairs but one break in each set was enough to determine the victorious pair as the underdogs fell in straight sets ultimately.