2015 WTA Elite Trophy

2015 WTA Elite Trophy
Date	November 3 – 8
Edition	1st
Draw	12S/6D
Surface	Hard / Indoor
Location	Zhuhai, China
Venue	Hengqin International Tennis Center
Champions
Singles
Doubles

The 2015 WTA Elite Trophy is a women's tennis tournament at Zhuhai, China. It will be the 1st edition of the singles event and doubles competition. The tournament will be contested by twelve singles players and six doubles teams. The event replaces the WTA Tournament of Champions.

Tournament

Qualifying

WTA Elite Trophy is an invitation-only event.

Singles qualifying

The field will consist of the top eleven players not already qualified for the 2015 WTA Finals, plus either (a) the 12th-player not qualified for 2015 WTA Finals, or (b) a wild card. The final two alternates for the 2015 WTA Finals (Venus Williams and Carla Suárez Navarro) would have been eligible to play in WTA Elite Trophy even if they had participated in the WTA Finals.

Doubles qualifying

The field will consist of the top four pairs of players not already qualified for the 2015 WTA Finals, plus two wild cards. For each wild card not given out, the next highest pair of players not already qualified for the 2015 WTA Finals shall become a participant. As in the case of the singles field, the final alternate pair for the 2015 WTA Finals (Alla Kudryavtseva/Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova) are eligible to play in WTA Elite Trophy even if they subsequently participate in the WTA Finals.

Format

The singles event features twelve players in a round robin event, split into four groups of three. Over the first four days of competition, each player meets the other two players in her group, with the winner in each group advancing to the semifinal. The winners of each semifinal meet in the championship match. The six doubles teams will be split into two round robin groups, with the winner of each advancing to the final.

Round robin tie-breaking methods

The final standings of each group were determined by the first of the following methods that applied:

1. Greatest number of wins.
2. Greatest number of matches played.
3. Head-to-head results
4. In case of a 3-way tie:

• Percentage of sets won
• Percentage of games won

Prize money and points

The total prize money for the Huajin Securities 2015 WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai 2015 WTA Finals was US$2,150,000.

Stage	Singles		Doubles
	Prize money	Points	Prize money	Points
Champion	RR1 + $450,000	RR + 460	RR1 + $20,000	—
Runner-up	RR + $150,000	RR + 200	RR1 + $10,000	—
Semifinalist	RR + $15,000	RR	—	—
Round Robin win per match	$92,500	120	$5,000	—
Round Robin loss per match	$20,000	40	—	—
Participation fee	—	—	15,000	—
Alternates	$10,000	—	—	—

• ¹ RR means prize money or points won in the round robin round.

Qualified players

Singles

Seeds	Players	Points	Tours
1	Venus Williams	3,091	17
2	Carla Suárez Navarro	3,030	24
3	Karolína Plíšková	2,955	25
4	Roberta Vinci	2,655	24
5	Caroline Wozniacki	2,641	23
6	Sara Errani	2,525	25
7	Madison Keys	2,495	18
8	Elina Svitolina	2,410	24
9	Jelena Janković	2,345	24
10	Andrea Petkovic	2,106	24
11	Svetlana Kuznetsova	1,847	19
12	Zheng Saisai [WC]	789	26

Venus Williams had a resurgent 2015.

Venus Williams had a resurgent year in 2015.She began the year by winning the ASB Classic defeating Caroline Wozniacki in three sets. She then followed it up by reaching her first slam quarterfinal at the Australian Open since 2010 losing to Madison Keys. She also was able to reach the quarterfinals of the US Open losing to sister Serena. She won her biggest title since Dubai 2010, by claiming the Wuhan Open defeating Garbiñe Muguruza in the finals. She also was the first alternate for the 2015 WTA Finals but was not used.

Carla Suárez Navarro had a break through season in 2015, including breaking through the top 10 and reaching a career high of no. 8 in the world. She was able to reach three finals in the year, but losing in all of them. The first coming at the Diamond Games, where she needed to withdraw from the final against Andrea Petkovic with a neck injury. She followed it up with her biggest final to date at the Miami Open but lost to world no. 1 Serena Williams winning just two games. Her third final was at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia where she fell to Maria Sharapova in three sets. Despite strong showings at WTA events, Suárez Navarro struggled at the major events losing in the first round of three of the four slams. She also struggled in the second half of the year, going on a 8 match losing streak from mid-June to late September, and only winning 5 of her last 17 matches going into the 2015 WTA Finals. She also served as an alternate at the WTA Finals but wasnt used.

Karolína Plíšková broke into the top 10.

Karolína Plíšková had a breakthrough year in 2015, including breaking through the top 10 with a career high of number 7. She reached five finals in 2015, the most finals reached by any player. She began the year by reaching the final of the Apia International Sydney losing to Petra Kvitová. She reached her biggest final to date at the Dubai Tennis Championships but fell to Simona Halep in two tight sets. She took her lone title of 2015 at her home tournament at the Prague Open defeating compatriot Lucie Hradecká in three sets. She reached the finals of Aegon Classic and Bank of the West Classic, both losing to Angelique Kerber in three tight sets. Despite these performances at WTA events, she struggled at majors only surpassing the second round once.

Roberta Vinci had a slow start to the year but found her form as she ended Serena Williams dreams of a Grand Slam in New York. After arguably the win of her career, Vinci found herself in the final against her compatriot Flavia Pennetta going down in straight sets. She also reached the final of Nürnberg. Her season was also highlighted by a semifinal showing in Wuhan as well as quarterfinals in Toronto, Istanbul and Hobart.

Caroline Wozniacki was unable to find her strong form that was shown in 2014, but still managed to display it momentarily throughout the season. She reached the second round of all slams except for a fourth round showing at Wimbledon. Her best performances at higher level events for the year was a final in Stuttgart as well as semifinals in Dubai and quarterfinals in Madrid. She also won Kuala Lumpur and reached the semifinals of Eastbourne, New Haven and Tokyo.

Sara Errani found her way to two finals in both of which she versed Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, she took home the title in Rio de Janeiro and finished as runner-up in Bucharest. She also reached the semifinals in Toronto, Monterrey, Bad Gastein and Guangzhou. As well as quarterfinal showings at Roland Garros and Beijing.

Madison Keys had a breakthrough year in 2015 highlighted by stellar performances at the grand slams such as the semifinals of the Australian Open and quarterfinals at Wimbledon. As well as these strong showings at the major she also reached the final of Charleston as well as the quarterfinals of Strasbourg. She also reached a career high of No. 16.

Elina Svitolina had a breakthrough year proving her place as a rising star on tour. Her season was highlighted by a title in Marrakesh as well as a semifinal in Cincinnati and a quarterfinal showing at Roland Garros. She also reached the semifinals of Brisbane, Stanford and Bogota. She also reached a career high of No. 15.

Jelena Janković hat inconsistent results in first half of the year except reaching the final of Indian Wells. She, however, rebounded with strong performance at Wimbledon and then went on to reach the semifinals of Cincinnati and won three titles after a strong Asian swing in Nanchang, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

Andrea Petkovic had a strong season despite a certain degree of inconsistency. Highlighted by a title in Antwerp as well as semifinal showings in Miami and Charleston. She also reached the quarterfinals of Doha and Eastbourne. She found consistency at the slams reaching the the third round of the last three slams.

Svetlana Kuznetsova had an inconsistent season finding her form momentarily within the year. Highlighted by winning the title in her home nation in Moscow and reaching the final of Madrid. She also reached the quarterfinals of Guangzhou as well as the fourth round of the US Open, Miami and Beijing.

Zheng Saisai heads to Zhuhai after being awarded a wildcard to play in front of her home nation. Her season was highlighted by a win of the WTA 125k title in Dalian and a semifinal performance in Shenzhen as well as quarterfinal showings at Tokyo and Guangzhou.

Player head-to-head

Below are the head-to-head records as they approached the tournament.

2015 WTA Elite Trophy – Singles

Road to Elite Trophy

The 2 tables below are part of the tables from Road to Singapore

Singles

Qualified players

Players with a  gold  rank cell have qualified.
Players with a  brown  rank cell were eligible to play but chose not to participate.

Rank	Athlete	Grand Slam tournament				Premier Mandatory				Best Premier 5		Best other						Total points	Tours	Titles
		AUS	FRA	WIM	USO	INW	MIA	MAD	BEI	1	2	1	2	3	4	5	6
Qualified for WTA Elite Trophy
10	Timea Bacsinszky	R32 130	SF 780	QF 430	R128 10	QF 215	A 0	R64 10	F 650	R16 105	R64 1	W 280	W 280	F 180	QF 60	R64 1	R32 1	3133	17	2
11	Venus Williams	QF 430	R128 10	R16 240	QF 430	A 0	QF 215	R64 10	R32 10	W 900	R16 105	W 280	SF 185	SF 110	R16 105	R32 60	R64 1	3091	17	2
12	Carla Suárez Navarro	R128 10	R32 130	R128 10	R128 10	QF 215	F 650	QF 215	R16 120	F 585	QF 190	F 305	SF 185	R16 105	QF 100	QF 100	QF 100	3030	24	0
13	Karolína Plíšková	R32 130	R64 70	R64 70	R128 10	R16 120	QF 215	R32 65	R64 10	F 585	QF 190	F 305	F 305	F 305	W 280	SF 185	SF 110	2955	25	1
14	Belinda Bencic	R128 10	R64 70	R16 240	R32 130	R16 120	R16 120	R64 10	R32 65	W 900	R16 105	W 470	F 305	F 180	R32 60	R32 60	R16 55	2900	24	2
15	Roberta Vinci	R64 70	R128 10	R128 10	F 1300	R64 35	R64 10	R16 120	R16 120	SF 350	QF 190	F 180	R16 80	QF 60	QF 60	R16 30	R16 30	2655	24	0
16	Ana Ivanovic	R128 10	SF 780	R64 70	R128 10	R32 65	R32 65	R16 120	SF 390	QF 190	QF 190	F 305	SF 110	R16 105	R16 105	QF 100	R16 30	2645	19	0
17	Caroline Wozniacki	R64 70	R64 70	R16 240	R64 70	R32 65	R16 120	QF 215	R16 120	SF 350	R32 1	F 305	W 280	SF 185	SF 185	SF 185	F 180	2641	23	1
18	Sara Errani	R32 130	QF 430	R64 70	R32 130	R32 65	R16 120	R32 65	QF 215	SF 350	R32 60	W 280	F 180	SF 110	SF 110	SF 110	QF 100	2525	25	1
19	Madison Keys	SF 780	R32 130	QF 430	R16 240	R32 65	R64 10	R64 10	R16 120	R32 60	R32 60	F 305	QF 60	R32 60	R16 55	R16 55	R16 55	2495	18	0
20	Elina Svitolina	R32 130	QF 430	R64 70	R32 130	R16 120	R32 65	R32 65	R32 65	SF 350	R16 105	W 280	SF 185	SF 185	SF 110	R32 60	R32 60	2410	24	1
21	Jelena Janković	R128 10	R128 10	R16 240	R128 10	F 650	R64 10	A 0	R64 10	SF 350	R16 105	W 280	W 280	W 160	SF 110	QF 60	QF 60	2345	24	3
22	Victoria Azarenka	R16 240	R32 130	QF 430	QF 430	R32 65	R32 65	R16 120	A 0	QF 190	R16 105	F 305	R16 105	R32 60	R32 30	R32 1		2276	15	0
23	Ekaterina Makarova	SF 780	R16 240	R64 70	R16 240	R32 65	R16 120	R64 10	A 0	QF 190	R16 105	SF 110	QF 100	R32 60	R16 55	R16 55	R16 1	2201	17	0
24	Andrea Petkovic	R128 10	R32 130	R32 130	R32 130	R64 10	SF 390	R32 65	R16 120	R16 105	R16 105	W 470	SF 185	QF 100	QF 100	R16 55	R64 1	2106	24	1
25	Samantha Stosur	R64 70	R32 130	R32 130	R16 240	R32 65	R32 65	R16 120	R32 65	R16 60	R32 30	W 280	W 280	SF 110	SF 110	R16 55	R16 55	1865	24	2
26	Svetlana Kuznetsova	R128 10	R64 70	R64 70	R16 240	R128 10	R16 120	F 650	R16 120	R16 60	R64 1	W 470	QF 60	R16 55	R16 55	R16 30	R31 1	1847	19	1

Other entrants

The following player received a wildcard into the singles draw:

• Zheng Saisai

Doubles

Qualified players

Pairs with a  gold  rank cell have qualified.
Pairs with a  brown  rank cell were eligible to play but chose not to participate.

Rank	Athlete	Points											Total points	Tours	Titles
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
11	Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)	QF 430	SF 350	SF 350	R16 240	R16 240	SF 185	R32 130	R16 120	R16 120	R16 120	R16 120	2,405	14	0
12	Michaëlla Krajicek (NED) Barbora Strýcová (CZE)	SF 780	QF 430	R16 240	R32 130	SF 185	R16 120	R16 105	R16 105	QF 100	R32 10	R32 10	2,325	14	0
13	Chan Yung-jan (TPE) Zheng Jie (CHN)	F 1300	F 305	R16 240	SF 185	SF 110	R64 10	R32 1					2,151	7	0
14	Kiki Bertens (NED) Johanna Larsson (SWE)	QF 430	W 280	W 280	R16 240	F 180	SF 110	SF 110	SF 110	QF 60	R64 10	R16 1	1,811	11	2
15	Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) Arantxa Parra Santonja (ESP)	W 470	F 305	R16 240	F 180	R32 130	R16 105	R16 105	R16 105	QF 100	R32 10	R16 1	1,751	14	1
16	Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN) Alicja Rosolska (POL)	W 280	R16 240	QF 190	QF 190	SF 185	R16 120	R16 120	QF 60	R64 10	R64 10	R64 10	1,415	20	1
17	Hsieh Su-wei (TPE) Flavia Pennetta (ITA)	QF 430	QF 430	QF 215	QF 190	R16 120	R32 10						1,395	6	0
18	Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) Arina Rodionova (AUS)	R16 240	QF 215	QF 190	F 180	R32 130	R32 130	SF 110	QF 100	QF 60	R32 10	R32 10	1,375	16	0
19	Klaudia Jans-Ignacik (POL) Andreja Klepač (SLO)	QF 430	SF 390	R16 120	R16 120	QF 100	QF 100	SF 57	R64 10	R64 10	R16 1	R16 1	1,339	14	0
20	Sara Errani (ITA) Flavia Pennetta (ITA)	SF 780	QF 190	QF 190	R16 120								1,280	4	0
21	Lyudmyla Kichenok (UKR) Nadiya Kichenok (UKR)	W 280	R32 130	R16 120	SF 110	SF 110	R16 105	QF 100	W 80	W 80	QF 60	QF 60	1,235	13	1

Other entrants

The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles draw:

• Liang Chen / Wang Yafan
• Xu Shilin / You Xiaodi

Champions

Singles

Main article: 2015 WTA Elite Trophy – Singles

• TBD vs. TBD

Doubles

Main article: 2015 WTA Elite Trophy – Doubles

• TBD / TBD vs. TBD / TBD

External links

• Official Website
• Order of Play