WTA Finals
WTA Finals | |
---|---|
Tournament information | |
Founded | 1972 |
Editions | 46 (2016) |
Location | Singapore (2014–18) |
Venue | Singapore Indoor Stadium |
Category | Tour Championships[1] |
Surface | Hard / Indoors |
Draw | 8S / 8D (2014 – present) |
Prize money | US$7,000,000 (2016) |
Website | www.wtafinals.com |
Current champions | |
Women's singles | ![]() |
Women's doubles | ![]() ![]() |
The WTA Finals (formerly known as the WTA Tour Championships[2] short: WTA Championships), is a professional tennis tournament played annually at the end of the season for the top-ranked players on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) tour. The location and number of players has changed since the first edition in 1972. Since 2003 there have been eight singles players divided into two round robin groups, and four doubles teams.
The WTA Finals is unofficially considered the fifth most prestigious event of a season after the four Grand Slam tournaments. It also has the largest prize money and ranking points after the Grand Slams. The most successful Finals player is Martina Navratilova who's won 8 singles titles and 13 doubles titles.
History
The championships were held for the first time in October 1972 in Boca Raton, Florida (USA) as a climax event at the end of a series of tournaments sponsored by Virginia Slims, called the Virginia Slims Circuit.[3] From 1972 to 1974, the event was held in October, before switching to March from 1975 until 1986. The WTA then decided to adopt a January–November playing season, and so the event was switched to being held at the end of each year. As a consequence, there were two championships held in 1986.
The event was held in Los Angeles, California from 1974 to 1976 before moving to Madison Square Garden in New York City in 1977. With the exception of a one-year move to Oakland, California in 1978, the Championships remained at MSG until 2000. The event then briefly moved to Munich, Germany in 2001. More recently, it moved back to Los Angeles from 2002 to 2005. The 2006 and 2007 editions were held in Madrid, Spain. Doha, Qatar hosted the 2008–2010 editions before passing the flag to Istanbul, Turkey, which hosted the 2011–2013 editions.[4] For the right to host the 2014 edition and beyond, 43 cities expressed an interest before a short list comprising Kazan, Russia; Mexico City, Mexico; Singapore; and Tianjin, China was drawn up in late 2012.[5] Kazan and Mexico City were ruled out in early 2013,[6] before Singapore was announced in May 2013 as the new host city for five years.[7][8]
From 1984–1998, the final of the championships was a best-of-five-sets match, making it the only tournament on the women's tour to have had a best-of-five match at any round of the competition.[9] It was the first time since the 1901 U.S. National Championships that the best-of-five format was used in women's matches.[10] In 1999, the final reverted to being a best-of-three-sets match. From the 2014 edition the doubles draw was increased from four to eight teams.[8]
The winner of the tournament since 2014 receives the Billie Jean King Trophy.[11]
Official names
The event has a more than 40-year history of corporate sponsorship with the finals named after the sponsoring company.[3]
Years | Sponsor | Finals Name | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1972–1978 | Virginia Slims | Virginia Slims Championships | |
1979–1982 | Avon | Avon Championships | |
1983–1994 | Virginia Slims | Virginia Slims Championships | |
1995 | WTA Tour Championships | No titular sponsor | |
1996–2000 | Chase | Chase Championships | |
2001 | Sanex | Sanex Championships | |
2002 | The Home Depot | Home Depot Championships | |
2003 | Bank of America | Bank of America WTA Tour Championships | |
2004 | WTA Tour Championships | No titular sponsor | |
2005–2010 | Sony Ericsson | Sony Ericsson Championships | |
2011–2013 | BNP Paribas and Türk Ekonomi Bankası | TEB–BNP Paribas Istanbul Cup | [3] |
2014– | BNP Paribas and SCglobal | BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore Presented by SCglobal | [12] |
Locations
Years | Town | Venue | Surface | Capacity |
---|---|---|---|---|
1972–1973 | Boca Raton | Clay | ||
1974–1976 | Los Angeles | Los Angeles Arena | Carpet | |
1977 | New York City | Madison Square Garden | Carpet | 18,000 |
1978 | Oakland | Oakland Arena | Carpet | |
1979–2000 | New York City | Madison Square Garden | Carpet | 18,000 |
2001 | Munich | Olympiahalle | Hard (i) | 12,000 |
2002–2005 | Los Angeles | Staples Center | Hard (i) | 17,000 |
2006–2007 | Madrid | Madrid Arena | Hard (i) | 10,500 |
2008–2010 | Doha | Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex | Hard | 6,911 |
2011–2013 | Istanbul | Sinan Erdem Dome | Hard (i) | 16,410 |
2014–2018 | Singapore | Singapore Indoor Stadium | Hard (i) | 10,000 |
List of finals
Singles
- The final matches of the singles events between 1984 and 1998 were uniquely held in a best-of-five-sets format.
Doubles
Honor roll (2003–2016)
Singles
W = winner F = finalist (runner-up) SF = Semi final RR = Round robin (A) = Alternate W-L = win-loss |
Player | Result | Appeared | RR W–L | RR W Rate | SF&F W–L | SF&F W Rate | F W–L |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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F:11 SF:12 RR:09,10,13 | 5 | 07–08 | 0.47 | 01–02 | 0.33 | 0–1 |
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RR:07,11(A) | 2 | 02–01 | 0.67 | |||
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RR:14 | 1 | 00–03 | 0 | |||
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SF:03 | 1 | 02–01 | 0.67 | 00–01 | 0 | |
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SF:07 | 1 | 02–01 | 0.67 | 00–01 | 0 | |
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W:16 | 1 | 01–02 | 0.33 | 02–00 | 1 | 1–0 |
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W:03,10 SF:06 RR:05 | 4 | 08–04 | 0.67 | 04–01 | 0.8 | 2–0 |
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SF:05 RR:04 | 2 | 04–02 | 0.67 | 00–01 | 0 | |
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SF:08 RR:03-06,09,10 | 7 | 05–16 | 0.24 | 00–01 | 0 | |
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RR:12,13 | 2 | 02–04 | 0.33 | |||
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RR:07 | 1 | 01–02 | 0.33 | |||
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F:14, RR:15,16 | 3 | 04–05 | 0.44 | 01–01 | 0.5 | 0–1 |
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W:06,07 SF:03 | 3 | 07–02 | 0.78 | 04–01 | 0.8 | 2–0 |
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RR:06 | 1 | 01–02 | 0.33 | |||
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SF:07 RR:08,14 | 3 | 04–04 | 0.5 | 00–01 | 0 | |
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SF:08,09,13 RR:07,10 | 5 | 05–10 | 0.33 | 00–03 | 0 | |
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F:16 RR:12,13,15 | 4 | 05–07 | 0.42 | 01–01 | 0.5 | 0–1 |
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RR:16 | 1 | 01–02 | 0.33 | |||
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SF:16 RR:04,06-09 | 6 | 05–13 | 0.28 | 00–01 | 0 | |
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W:11 F:15 SF:13 RR:12,14 | 5 | 07–06 | 0.54 | 03–02 | 0.6 | 1–1 |
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F:13 RR:11,12 | 3 | 05–04 | 0.56 | 01–01 | 0.50 | 0–1 |
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W:05 F:03,06 SF:04 | 4 | 09–03 | 0.75 | 04–03 | 0.57 | 1–2 |
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SF:15 RR:16 | 2 | 04–02 | 0.67 | 00–01 | 0 | |
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SF:04 RR:03 | 2 | 03–03 | 0.5 | 00–01 | 0 | |
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RR:15 | 1 | 01–02 | 0.33 | |||
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RR:05,06,08(A) | 3 | 02–05 | 0.29 | |||
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F:05 | 1 | 03–00 | 1 | 01–01 | 0.5 | 0–1 |
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RR:16 | 1 | 01–02 | 0.33 | |||
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W:15,SF:12,14,16 RR:08(A),09(A),11,13 | 8 | 09–11 | 0.45 | 02–03 | 0.4 | 1–0 |
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RR:03 | 1 | 01–02 | 0.33 | |||
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RR:15 | 1 | 01–02 | 0.33 | |||
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RR:08,09 | 2 | 00–04 | 0 | |||
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RR:10 | 1 | 01–02 | 0.33 | |||
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RR:05 | 1 | 01–02 | 0.33 | |||
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W:04 F:07,12 SF:05,06,15 RR:11,14 | 8 | 17–06 | 0.74 | 04–05 | 0.44 | 1–2 |
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SF:10,11 RR:12(A) | 3 | 04–04 | 0.5 | 00–02 | 0 | |
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RR:03 | 1 | 01–02 | 0.33 | |||
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W:09,12-14 F:04 RR:07,08 | 7 | 14–04 | 0.78 | 09–01 | 0.9 | 4–1 |
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W:08 F:09 | 2 | 04–02 | 0.67 | 03–01 | 0.75 | 1–1 |
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F:10 SF:09,14 RR:11 | 4 | 08–04 | 0.67 | 01–03 | 0.25 | 0–1 |
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F:08 SF:10,11 RR:04,09(A) | 5 | 07–06 | 0.54 | 01–03 | 0.25 | 0–1 |
Final appearances by country
Singles
- 1.— March
- 2.— November
Final appearances by player
Singles
Player | Years won | Runner-up | No. of finals | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
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8 | 1978, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 19861, 19862 | 6 | 1975, 1980, 1982, 1989, 1991, 1992 | 14 |
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5 | 2001, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014 | 2 | 2002, 2004 | 7 |
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5 | 1987, 1989, 1993, 1995, 1996 | 1 | 19862 | 6 |
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4 | 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 | 4 | 1974, 1976, 1983, 1984 | 8 |
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3 | 1990, 1991, 1992 | 1 | 2000 | 4 |
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3 | 2002, 2003, 2010 | 0 | 3 | |
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2 | 1988, 1994 | 2 | 1987, 1990 | 4 |
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2 | 1998, 2000 | 2 | 1996, 1999 | 4 |
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2 | 1974, 1976 | 1 | 1978 | 3 |
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2 | 2006, 2007 | 0 | 2 | |
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1 | 1999 | 3 | 1994, 1998, 2001 | 4 |
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1 | 2005 | 2 | 2003, 2006 | 3 |
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1 | 2004 | 2 | 2007, 2012 | 3 |
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1 | 1980 | 1 | 1979 | 2 |
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1 | 2008 | 1 | 2009 | 2 |
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1 | 2011 | 1 | 2015 | 2 |
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1 | 1982 | 0 | 1 | |
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1 | 1997 | 0 | 1 | |
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1 | 2015 | 0 | 1 | |
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1 | 2016 | 0 | 1 | |
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0 | 2 | 1997, 2005 | 2 | |
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0 | 1 | 1972 | 1 | |
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0 | 1 | 1973 | 1 | |
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0 | 1 | 1977 | 1 | |
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0 | 1 | 1981 | 1 | |
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0 | 1 | 1985 | 1 | |
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0 | 1 | 19861 | 1 | |
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0 | 1 | 1988 | 1 | |
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0 | 1 | 1993 | 1 | |
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0 | 1 | 1995 | 1 | |
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0 | 1 | 2008 | 1 | |
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0 | 1 | 2010 | 1 | |
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0 | 1 | 2011 | 1 | |
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0 | 1 | 2013 | 1 | |
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0 | 1 | 2014 | 1 | |
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0 | 1 | 2016 | 1 |
- 1.— March
- 2.— November
See also
References
- ^ "BNP Paribas WTA Finals – Tournament Info". WTA Tour. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
- ^ "WTA re-launches year-end Championships as WTA Finals" (PDF). www.wtatennis.com. May 27, 2014.
- ^ a b c "TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Cup" (PDF). WTA Tour.
- ^ "2011 Calendar Announced". WTA Tour. 2 July 2010. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
- ^ "WTA narrows 2014 Championships host field to three finalists" (PDF). www.wtatennis.com. WTA. 29 January 2013.
{{cite web}}
: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=
(help) - ^ "Three cities still in running to host WTA Championships". www.wtatennis.com. WTA.
- ^ "WTA picks Singapore to host its tennis Championships from 2014". BBC News. 8 May 2013.
- ^ a b http://www.wtatennis.com/news/article/3168717
- ^ "40 Love History: Five Set Finals". Women's Tennis Association (WTA). 18 October 2013.
- ^ "It's the Way It's (Almost) Always Been". New York Times. 3 September 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
- ^ "Billie Jean King Named Official Ambassador of WTA Finals in Singapore" (PDF). www.wtatennis.com. Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). 30 June 2014.
- ^ "Tennis-BNP Paribas extends WTA Championship sponsorship". Reuters. Singapore. 11 March 2014.