Before the event, Sabalenka and Mertens moved up to No. 2 and No. 3 in the rankings respectively behind only world No. 1 Barbora Strýcová.[2] At the WTA Finals, the pair were placed in a round robin group with third seeds Babos and Mladenovic, fifth seeds Chan Hao-ching and Latisha Chan, as well as eighth seeds Anna-Lena Grönefeld and Demi Schuurs.