By the time the 2018 season reached its final stretch in Asia, Elina Svitolina, then only 24 years old, looked like a player who had lost her form.

She lost back-to-back matches in Asia, first to a 20-year-old Aryna Sabalenka in Wuhan and then to Aleksandra Krunic in Beijing, before falling to Qiang Wang in the Hong Kong quarterfinals. Svitolina then skipped the final two events on the calendar, Moscow and Luxembourg, which left her qualification for the WTA Finals out of her hands.

With her own season stalled, Svitolina’s qualification now rested on how the players behind her fared in the final weeks. Karolina Pliskova, one of the rivals still in contention, lost to Vera Zvonareva in the second round in Moscow, a result that sealed Svitolina’s place in Singapore for a second consecutive year.

Her debut a year earlier had been a short stay. Svitolina was eliminated in the round-robin stage with a 1-2 record, winning only two games against Caroline Wozniacki in her opener and then losing a gut-wrenching three-setter to Caroline Garcia, 7-5 in the third. A straight-sets win over Simona Halep in her final match came with nothing left to play for.

After a season-long race, the world's top players converge in the California desert with the WTA's biggest title still to be won.

Svitolina’s chances of escaping the group stage for the first time looked slim as the 2018 Finals began. She had won just two matches since the US Open, and her opening opponent in Singapore, Petra Kvitova, had beaten her seven times in a row.

But Svitolina, who had won titles in Brisbane, Dubai and Rome earlier in the year, had clearly put the week between Hong Kong and Singapore to good use. In Kallang she played with more confidence and sharper shot-making, and she had the stamina to wear opponents down in long, grinding matches.

Svitolina ended the Kvitova losing streak in the opener, winning 6-3, 6-3. Next came Pliskova, the player whose Moscow loss had helped send Svitolina to Singapore in the first place, and Svitolina beat her 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. Her last group opponent was Wozniacki, the defending champion who had won all but two games against her a year earlier, and this time Svitolina rallied from a set down to win 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 and finish the round robin unbeaten.

Svitolina went the distance again in the semis, edging Kiki Bertens 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-4. And in the final, she rallied to defeat Sloane Stephens 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 to secure the title, the biggest of her career.

It was a terrific turnaround for Svitolina, who finished the year at No. 4 in the rankings.

"I think I have nothing to prove anymore to anyone," Svitolina said at the time. "It’s definitely a good statement for myself and good boost of ... I can't say confidence, because I try to always have confidence in myself. To have it is my personality.

"I think for me, it's just that the third set really showed that I was mentally tough. That's what made the difference."

A year later, in Shenzhen, she won four more matches before losing the final to Ashleigh Barty.'

And now ... 

This November, Svitolina will return to the Finals for the first time in six years. The 32-year-old, now one of the most accomplished veterans on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz, will be making her fourth appearance. Since her last, she has won seven more titles and become a mother.

The World No. 6 clinched her spot at Indian Wells on October 17, capping a season in which she has won 48 matches, returned to the Top 10 and taken titles in Auckland and Rome. A steady winner and a constant threat to go deep, she also reached the semifinals in Melbourne, Indian Wells, Stuttgart and Toronto, and lost the final in Dubai.

Svitolina will carry the memories of Singapore with her when she returns to the season-ending event, where she’ll face the best players in the world once more.

She won’t be alone. Sabalenka, Roland Garros champion Mirra Andreeva, Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova, defending Finals champion Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula have also secured their places, leaving one singles berth up for grabs in the final weeks of the season.

"After so many things happened, after giving birth, going back and having [an] injury, having surgery and then coming back, this really feels like a great achievement," Svitolina said. "To get a chance to compete there, and be in a different generation and still get a chance to play among the these players."

The WTA Finals will be played in Indian Wells from Nov. 8 to 15.