Tennis-New faces ready for battle at season-ending at WTA Finals

FILE PHOTO: Tennis - WTA Tour Finals - Shenzhen Bay Sports Center - Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China - November 3, 2019 Australia's Ashleigh Barty celebrates after winning the final against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo

(Reuters) - With world number one and holder Ash Barty sitting out this week's WTA Finals, the only certainty for the eight players competing at the season-ending showdown in Guadalajara, Mexico, is that a new champion will be crowned.

Barty, who counts Wimbledon among the five titles she captured this season, said last month that she would end her 2021 season early due to COVID-19 travel and quarantine restrictions in Australia and start preparing for her home Grand Slam in Melbourne in January.