WTA Finals

WTA Finals
Tournament information
Founded	1972 (1972)
Editions	47 (2017)
Location	Singapore (2014–2018)
Venue	Singapore Indoor Stadium
Category	Tour Championships
Surface	Hard - indoors
Draw	8S / 8D (since 2014)
Prize money	US$7,000,000 (2017)
Website	wtafinals.com
Current champions (2017)
Women's singles	Caroline Wozniacki
Women's doubles	Tímea Babos Andrea Hlaváčková

The WTA Finals (formerly known as the WTA Tour Championships 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 eight 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 majors. The most successful finals player is Martina Navratilova, who has won 8 singles titles and 13 doubles titles.

To qualify for the WTA Finals, WTA players compete throughout the year in over 53 WTA tournaments throughout the world, as well as the four Grand Slam events. Players earn ranking points on the Porsche Race To Singapore leaderboard, and the top 7 singles players (and usually top 8) and top 8 doubles teams on this leaderboard at the conclusion of the year (as of the Monday following the final regular season tournament) earn the right to compete in the WTA Championships. For singles, all results from that year count towards a player's ranking; for doubles, only the best 11 results for a team from that year count towards the team's ranking. The eighth spot in singles is not guaranteed a place in the finals as the WTA has some leeway per the WTA rules.

Qualified players participate in a round-robin format in two groups of four. The winners and runners-up of each group advance to the semifinals. Doubles teams participate in a single elimination draw.

History

The championships were held for the first time in October 1972 in Boca Raton, Florida (USA) as a climactic event at the end of a series of tournaments sponsored by Virginia Slims, called the Virginia Slims Circuit. 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. 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. Kazan and Mexico City were ruled out in early 2013, before Singapore was announced in May 2013 as the new host city for five years.

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. It was the first time since the 1901 U.S. National Championships that the best-of-five format was used in women's matches. 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.

The winner of the tournament since 2014 receives the Billie Jean King Trophy.

Official names

The event has a more than 40-year history of corporate sponsorship with the finals named after the sponsoring company.

Years	Sponsor	Name	Notes
1972–1978	Virginia Slims	Virginia Slims Championships
1979–1982	Avon	Avon Championships
1983–1994	Virginia Slims	Virginia Slims Championships
1995	None	WTA Tour Championships
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	None	WTA Tour Championships
2005–2010	Sony Ericsson	Sony Ericsson Championships
2011–2013	BNP Paribas and Türk Ekonomi Bankası	TEB–BNP Paribas WTA Championships Istanbul
2014–2018	BNP Paribas and SCglobal	BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global

Locations

Years	Town	Venue	Surface	Capacity
1972–1973	Boca Raton		Clay
1974–1976	Los Angeles	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena	Carpet	14,800
1977	New York City	Madison Square Garden	Carpet	18,000
1978	Oakland	Oakland Arena	Carpet	13,200
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
2019–2028*	Shenzhen	TBA	Hard (i)	12,000

• WTA Finals are moving to Shenzhen beginning 2019 onwards, making 2018 the last WTA Finals event to be held in Singapore.

List of finals

Singles

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score
1972	Chris Evert	Kerry Melville Reid	7–5, 6–4
1973	Chris Evert (2)	Nancy Richey Gunter	6–3, 6–3
1974	Evonne Goolagong Cawley	Chris Evert	6–3, 6–4
1975	Chris Evert (3)	Martina Navratilova	6–4, 6–2
1976	Evonne Goolagong Cawley (2)	Chris Evert	6–3, 5–7, 6–3
1977	Chris Evert (4)	Sue Barker	2–6, 6–1, 6–1
1978	Martina Navratilova	Evonne Goolagong Cawley	7–6(7–0), 6–4
1979	Martina Navratilova (2)	Tracy Austin	6–3, 3–6, 6–2
1980	Tracy Austin	Martina Navratilova	6–2, 2–6, 6–2
1981	Martina Navratilova (3)	Andrea Jaeger	6–3, 7–6(7–3)
1982	Sylvia Hanika	Martina Navratilova	1–6, 6–3, 6–4
1983	Martina Navratilova (4)	Chris Evert	6–2, 6–0
1984 †	Martina Navratilova (5)	Chris Evert	6–3, 7–5, 6–1
1985 †	Martina Navratilova (6)	Helena Suková	6–3, 7–5, 6–4
1986 (Mar.) †	Martina Navratilova (7)	Hana Mandlíková	6–2, 6–0, 3–6, 6–1
1986 (Nov.) †	Martina Navratilova (8)	Steffi Graf	7–6(8–6), 6–3, 6–2
1987 †	Steffi Graf	Gabriela Sabatini	4–6, 6–4, 6–0, 6–4
1988 †	Gabriela Sabatini	Pam Shriver	7–5, 6–2, 6–2
1989 †	Steffi Graf (2)	Martina Navratilova	6–4, 7–5, 2–6, 6–2
1990 †	Monica Seles	Gabriela Sabatini	6–4, 5–7, 3–6, 6–4, 6–2
1991 †	Monica Seles (2)	Martina Navratilova	6–4, 3–6, 7–5, 6–0
1992 †	Monica Seles (3)	Martina Navratilova	7–5, 6–3, 6–1
1993 †	Steffi Graf (3)	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–1, 6–4, 3–6, 6–1
1994 †	Gabriela Sabatini (2)	Lindsay Davenport	6–3, 6–2, 6–4
1995 †	Steffi Graf (4)	Anke Huber	6–1, 2–6, 6–1, 4–6, 6–3
1996 †	Steffi Graf (5)	Martina Hingis	6–3, 4–6, 6–0, 4–6, 6–0
1997 †	Jana Novotná	Mary Pierce	7–6(7–4), 6–2, 6–3
1998 †	Martina Hingis	Lindsay Davenport	7–5, 6–4, 4–6, 6–2
1999	Lindsay Davenport	Martina Hingis	6–4, 6–2
2000	Martina Hingis (2)	Monica Seles	6–7(5–7), 6–4, 6–4
2001	Serena Williams	Lindsay Davenport	Walkover
2002	Kim Clijsters	Serena Williams	7–5, 6–3
2003	Kim Clijsters (2)	Amélie Mauresmo	6–2, 6–0
2004	Maria Sharapova	Serena Williams	4–6, 6–2, 6–4
2005	Amélie Mauresmo	Mary Pierce	5–7, 7–6(7–3), 6–4
2006	Justine Henin	Amélie Mauresmo	6–4, 6–3
2007	Justine Henin (2)	Maria Sharapova	5–7, 7–5, 6–3
2008	Venus Williams	Vera Zvonareva	6–7(5–7), 6–0, 6–2
2009	Serena Williams (2)	Venus Williams	6–2, 7–6(7–4)
2010	Kim Clijsters (3)	Caroline Wozniacki	6–3, 5–7, 6–3
2011	Petra Kvitová	Victoria Azarenka	7–5, 4–6, 6–3
2012	Serena Williams (3)	Maria Sharapova	6–4, 6–3
2013	Serena Williams (4)	Li Na	2–6, 6–3, 6–0
2014	Serena Williams (5)	Simona Halep	6–3, 6–0
2015	Agnieszka Radwańska	Petra Kvitová	6–2, 4–6, 6–3
2016	Dominika Cibulková	Angelique Kerber	6–3, 6–4
2017	Caroline Wozniacki	Venus Williams	6–4, 6–4

† From 1984 to 1998, the final match in singles was uniquely held in a best-of-five-sets format.

Doubles

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score in final
1972	no doubles played
1973	Rosemary Casals Margaret Court	Françoise Dürr Betty Stöve	6–2, 6–4
1974	Rosemary Casals (2) Billie Jean King	Françoise Dürr Betty Stöve	6–1, 6–7(2–7), 7–5
1975	Margaret Court (2) Virginia Wade	Rosemary Casals Billie Jean King	6–7(2–7), 7–6(7–2), 6–2
1976	Billie Jean King (2) Betty Stöve	Mona Guerrant Ann Kiyomura	6–3, 6–2
1977	Martina Navratilova Betty Stöve (2)	Françoise Dürr Virginia Wade	7–5, 6–3
1978	Billie Jean King (3) Martina Navratilova (2)	Virginia Wade Françoise Dürr	6–4, 6–4
1979	Françoise Dürr Betty Stöve (3)	Sue Barker Ann Kiyomura	7–6, 7–6
1980	Billie Jean King (4) Martina Navratilova (3)	Rosemary Casals Wendy Turnbull	6–3, 4–6, 6–3
1981	Martina Navratilova (4) Pam Shriver	Barbara Potter Sharon Walsh	6–0, 7–6(8–6)
1982	Martina Navratilova (5) Pam Shriver (2)	Kathy Jordan Anne Smith	6–4, 6–3
1983	Martina Navratilova (6) Pam Shriver (3)	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Eva Pfaff	7–5, 6–2
1984	Martina Navratilova (7) Pam Shriver (4)	Jo Durie Ann Kiyomura	6–3, 6–1
1985	Martina Navratilova (8) Pam Shriver (5)	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Helena Suková	6–7(4–7), 6–4, 7–6(7–5)
1986 (Mar.)	Hana Mandlíková Wendy Turnbull	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Helena Suková	6–4, 6–7(4–7), 6–3
1986 (Nov.)	Martina Navratilova (9) Pam Shriver (6)	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Helena Suková	7–6(7–1), 6–3
1987	Martina Navratilova (10) Pam Shriver (7)	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Helena Suková	6–1, 6–1
1988	Martina Navratilova (11) Pam Shriver (8)	Larisa Savchenko Natalia Zvereva	6–3, 6–4
1989	Martina Navratilova (12) Pam Shriver (9)	Larisa Savchenko Natalia Zvereva	6–3, 6–2
1990	Kathy Jordan Elizabeth Smylie	Mercedes Paz Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	7–6(7–4), 6–4
1991	Martina Navratilova (13) Pam Shriver (10)	Gigi Fernández Jana Novotná	4–6, 7–5, 6–4
1992	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Helena Suková	Jana Novotná Larisa Savchenko Neiland	7–6(7–4), 6–1
1993	Gigi Fernández Natalia Zvereva	Jana Novotná Larisa Neiland	6–3, 7–5
1994	Gigi Fernández (2) Natasha Zvereva (2)	Jana Novotná Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–3, 6–7(4–7), 6–3
1995	Jana Novotná Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (2)	Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva	6–2, 6–1
1996	Lindsay Davenport Mary Joe Fernández	Jana Novotná Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	6–3, 6–2
1997	Lindsay Davenport (2) Jana Novotná (2)	Alexandra Fusai Nathalie Tauziat	6–7(5–7), 6–3, 6–2
1998	Lindsay Davenport (3) Natasha Zvereva (3)	Alexandra Fusai Nathalie Tauziat	6–7(6–8), 7–5, 6–3
1999	Martina Hingis Anna Kournikova	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Larisa Neiland	6–4, 6–4
2000	Martina Hingis (2) Anna Kournikova (2)	Nicole Arendt Manon Bollegraf	6–2, 6–3
2001	Lisa Raymond Rennae Stubbs	Cara Black Elena Likhovtseva	7–5, 3–6, 6–3
2002	Elena Dementieva Janette Husárová	Cara Black Elena Likhovtseva	4–6, 6–4, 6–3
2003	Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez	Kim Clijsters Ai Sugiyama	6–4, 3–6, 6–3
2004	Nadia Petrova Meghann Shaughnessy	Cara Black Rennae Stubbs	7–5, 6–2
2005	Lisa Raymond (2) Samantha Stosur	Cara Black Rennae Stubbs	6–7(5–7), 7–5, 6–4
2006	Lisa Raymond (3) Samantha Stosur (2)	Cara Black Rennae Stubbs	3–6, 6–3, 6–3
2007	Cara Black Liezel Huber	Katarina Srebotnik Ai Sugiyama	5–7, 6–3, [10–8]
2008	Cara Black (2) Liezel Huber (2)	Květa Peschke Rennae Stubbs	6–1, 7–5
2009	Nuria Llagostera Vives María José Martínez Sánchez	Cara Black Liezel Huber	7–6(7–0), 5–7, [10–7]
2010	Gisela Dulko Flavia Pennetta	Květa Peschke Katarina Srebotnik	7–5, 6–4
2011	Liezel Huber (3) Lisa Raymond (4)	Květa Peschke Katarina Srebotnik	6–4, 6–4
2012	Maria Kirilenko Nadia Petrova	Andrea Hlaváčková Lucie Hradecká	6–1, 6–4
2013	Hsieh Su-wei Peng Shuai	Ekaterina Makarova Elena Vesnina	6–4, 7–5
2014	Cara Black (3) Sania Mirza	Hsieh Su-wei Peng Shuai	6–1, 6–0
2015	Martina Hingis (3) Sania Mirza (2)	Garbiñe Muguruza Carla Suárez Navarro	6–0, 6–3
2016	Ekaterina Makarova Elena Vesnina	Bethanie Mattek-Sands Lucie Šafářová	7–6(7–5), 6–3
2017	Tímea Babos Andrea Hlaváčková	Kiki Bertens Johanna Larsson	4–6, 6–4, [10–5]

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
Victoria Azarenka	F: 11; SF: 12; RR: 09, 10, 13	5	07–08	47%	01–02	33%	0–1
Marion Bartoli	RR: 07, 11 (A)	2	02–01	67%
Eugenie Bouchard	RR: 14	1	00–03	0%
Jennifer Capriati	SF: 03	1	02–01	67%	00–01	0%
Anna Chakvetadze	SF: 07	1	02–01	67%	00–01	0%
Dominika Cibulková	W: 16	1	01–02	33%	02–00	100%	1–0
Kim Clijsters	W: 03, 10; SF: 06; RR: 05	4	08–04	67%	04–01	80%	2–0
Lindsay Davenport	SF: 05; RR: 04	2	04–02	67%	00–01	0%
Elena Dementieva	SF: 08; RR: 03–06, 09, 10	7	05–16	24%	00–01	0%
Sara Errani	RR: 12, 13	2	02–04	33%
Caroline Garcia	SF: 17	1	02–01	67%	00–01	0%
Daniela Hantuchová	RR: 07	1	01–02	33%
Simona Halep	F: 14; RR: 15, 16, 17	4	05–07	42%	01–01	50%	0–1
Justine Henin	W: 06, 07; SF: 03	3	07–02	78%	04–01	80%	2–0
Martina Hingis	RR: 06	1	01–02	33%
Ana Ivanovic	SF: 07; RR: 08, 14	3	04–04	50%	00–01	0%
Jelena Janković	SF: 08, 09, 13; RR: 07, 10	5	05–10	33%	00–03	0%
Angelique Kerber	F: 16; RR: 12, 13, 15	4	05–07	42%	01–01	50%	0–1
Madison Keys	RR: 16	1	01–02	33%
Svetlana Kuznetsova	SF: 16; RR: 04, 06–09	6	05–13	28%	00–01	0%
Petra Kvitová	W: 11; F: 15; SF: 13; RR: 12, 14	5	07–06	54%	03–02	60%	1–1
Li Na	F: 13; RR: 11, 12	3	05–04	56%	01–01	50%	0–1
Amélie Mauresmo	W: 05; F: 03, 06; SF: 04	4	09–03	75%	04–03	57%	1–2
Garbiñe Muguruza	SF: 15; RR: 16, 17	3	05–04	56%	00–01	0%
Anastasia Myskina	SF: 04; RR: 03	2	03–03	50%	00–01	0%
Jeļena Ostapenko	RR: 17	1	01–02	33%
Flavia Pennetta	RR: 15	1	01–02	33%
Nadia Petrova	RR: 05, 06, 08 (A)	3	02–05	29%
Mary Pierce	F: 05	1	03–00	100%	01–00	100%	0–1
Karolína Plíšková	SF: 17; RR: 16	2	03–03	50%	00–01	0%
Agnieszka Radwańska	W: 15; SF: 12, 14, 16; RR: 08 (A), 09 (A), 11, 13	8	09–11	45%	02–03	40%	1–0
Chanda Rubin	RR: 03	1	01–02	33%
Lucie Šafářová	RR: 15	1	01–02	33%
Dinara Safina	RR: 08, 09	2	00–04	0%
Francesca Schiavone	RR: 10	1	01–02	33%
Patty Schnyder	RR: 05	1	01–02	33%
Maria Sharapova	W: 04; F: 07, 12; SF: 05, 06, 15; RR: 11, 14	8	17–06	74%	04–05	44%	1–2
Samantha Stosur	SF: 10, 11; RR: 12 (A)	3	04–04	50%	00–02	0%
Ai Sugiyama	RR: 03	1	01–02	33%
Elina Svitolina	RR: 17	1	01–02	33%
Serena Williams	W: 09, 12–14; F: 04; RR: 07, 08	7	14–04	78%	09–01	90%	4–1
Venus Williams	W: 08; F: 09, 17	3	06–03	67%	04–01	80%	1–2
Caroline Wozniacki	W: 17; F: 10; SF: 09, 14; RR: 11	5	10–05	67%	02–03	40%	1–1
Vera Zvonareva	F: 08; SF: 10, 11; RR: 04, 09 (A)	5	07–06	54%	01–03	25%	0–1

Final appearances by country

Singles

Titles won	Country	Years Won	Runners-up
17	United States	1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 19861, 19862, 1999, 2001, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014	1973, 1974, 1976, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2009, 2017
6	Germany	1982, 1987, 1989, 1993, 1995, 1996	19862, 1995, 2016
5	Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic	1978, 1979, 1981, 1997, 2011	1975, 1980, 1985, 19861, 2015
5	Belgium	2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2010
3	/ Yugoslavia	1990, 1991, 1992
2	Australia	1974, 1976	1972, 1978
2	Argentina	1988, 1994	1987, 1990
2	Switzerland	1998, 2000	1996, 1999
1	Denmark	2017	2010
	France	2005	1997, 2003, 2005, 2006
	Russia	2004	2007, 2008, 2012
	Poland	2015
	Slovakia	2016
0	Belarus		2011
	China		2013
	Great Britain		1977
	Romania		2014
	Spain		1993

1.— March

2.— November

Final appearances by player

Singles

Player	Years won		Runner-up		No. of finals
/ Martina Navratilova	8	1978, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 19861, 19862	6	1975, 1980, 1982, 1989, 1991, 1992	14
Serena Williams	5	2001, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014	2	2002, 2004	7
Steffi Graf	5	1987, 1989, 1993, 1995, 1996	1	19862	6
Chris Evert	4	1972, 1973, 1975, 1977	4	1974, 1976, 1983, 1984	8
/ Monica Seles	3	1990, 1991, 1992	1	2000	4
Kim Clijsters	3	2002, 2003, 2010	0		3
Gabriela Sabatini	2	1988, 1994	2	1987, 1990	4
Martina Hingis	2	1998, 2000	2	1996, 1999	4
Evonne Goolagong Cawley	2	1974, 1976	1	1978	3
Justine Henin	2	2006, 2007	0		2
Lindsay Davenport	1	1999	3	1994, 1998, 2001	4
Amélie Mauresmo	1	2005	2	2003, 2006	3
Maria Sharapova	1	2004	2	2007, 2012	3
Tracy Austin	1	1980	1	1979	2
Venus Williams	1	2008	2	2009, 2017	3
Petra Kvitová	1	2011	1	2015	2
Sylvia Hanika	1	1982	0		1
Jana Novotná	1	1997	0		1
Agnieszka Radwańska	1	2015	0		1
Dominika Cibulková	1	2016	0		1
Caroline Wozniacki	1	2017	1	2010	2
Mary Pierce	0		2	1997, 2005	2
Kerry Melville Reid	0		1	1972	1
Nancy Richey Gunter	0		1	1973	1
Sue Barker	0		1	1977	1
Andrea Jaeger	0		1	1981	1
Helena Suková	0		1	1985	1
Hana Mandlíková	0		1	19861	1
Pam Shriver	0		1	1988	1
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	0		1	1993	1
Anke Huber	0		1	1995	1
Vera Zvonareva	0		1	2008	1
Victoria Azarenka	0		1	2011	1
Li Na	0		1	2013	1
Simona Halep	0		1	2014	1
Angelique Kerber	0		1	2016	1

1.— March

2.— November

See also

• Toyota Championships
• WTA Tour Championships appearances
• ATP World Tour Finals

External links

• Official website