Serena Williams of the U.S.
Serena Williams of the U.S. reacts after losing a point in her quarterfinals match against her sister and compatriot Venus Williams at the U.S. Open Championships tennis tournament in New York, September 8, 2015. Reuters/Carlo Allegri

Serena Williams already announced cutting short her 2015 campaign by pulling out of the China Open and the WTA Finals in Singapore to recuperate from injuries she suffered this season. A recent report said that Williams is obliged to take part in the competition, otherwise she will end up paying a huge amount of money for her withdrawal.

The 21-grand slam champion will be forced to play the WTA Finals after having previously qualified, reported Tennis World USA. If Williams will not make it to compete, she will be entitled to a hefty amount of fine in addition to zero points from the tournament, which will go into her 16 best results.

The 2015 WTA Rulebook states that “Qualified Players who fail to attend and compete or fail to attend and promote shall be subject to a fine of US$125,000 for singles and a fine of US$25,000 for doubles and may be suspended in accordance with the Suspension Rule.”

However, the rule also states that any player can pull out of the tournament so long as she notifies the organisation by a letter. The player should also make sure not to announce her withdrawal in public prior to notifying the organisation.

Williams announced that she was pulling out from next week’s China Open and WTA Finals to give time for her body to heal, revealing that she played injured for the most part of this year’s tennis season. Her withdrawal means that World No. 2 Simona Halep and No. 3 Maria Sharapova are the only players who have qualified for the tournament so far.

Six spots are available over the remainder of the season, where a total of 1,750 points are up for the taking. Below are the top eight players in the world rankings (Road to Singapore).

Simona Halep - 5,735 points (qualified)

Maria Sharapova - 4,321 points (qualified)

Petra Kvitova - 3,378 points

Lucie Safarova - 3,222 points

Flavia Pennetta - 3,034 points

Angelique Kerber - 2,970 points

Carla Suarez-Navarro - 2,960 points

Agnieszka Radwanska - 2,955 points

The 2015 WTA Finals is a 10-day event of tennis and entertainment beginning Oct. 23. The tournament takes place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium from Oct. 25 to Nov. 1.

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