The WTA Finals (formerly known as the WTA Tour Championships or WTA Championships) is a tournament of the
Women's Tennis Association
The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) is the principal organizing body of women's professional tennis. It governs the WTA Tour which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women and was founded to create a better future for women's tenni ...
(WTA) played annually at the end of the season. The event is uniquely reserved for players at the top of the
WTA rankings
The WTA rankings are the ratings defined by the Women's Tennis Association, introduced in November 1975.
Iga Świątek is the current world No. 1.
Ranking method
The WTA rankings are based on a rolling 52-week, cumulative system. A play ...
. The format predates WTA and started in 1972 as the Championship tournament of
WTA Tour
The WTA Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125K series, and third-tier is the ITF Women's Circuit. The men's equivalent is the ATP Tour.
WTA Tour tourna ...
's predecessor: the
Virginia Slims Circuit
The Virginia Slims Circuit was a tennis tour consisting of a group of originally nine female professional players. Formed in 1970, the Virginia Slims Circuit eventually became the basis for the later WTA Tour. The players, dubbed the ''Original 9'' ...
. Since 2003 there have been eight singles players divided into two
round-robin groups, and eight doubles teams.
The WTA Finals has the largest prize money and ranking points after the majors. The most successful player is
Martina Navratilova
Martina Navratilova ( cs, Martina Navrátilová ; ; born October 18, 1956) is a Czech–American, former professional tennis player. Widely considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, Navratilova won 18 major singles titles, 31 maj ...
with 8 singles and 13 doubles titles.
Tournament
History
The championships were held for the first time in October 1972 in
Boca Raton
Boca Raton ( ; es, Boca Ratón, link=no, ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It was first incorporated on August 2, 1924, as "Bocaratone," and then incorporated as "Boca Raton" in 1925. The population was 97,422 in the ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
(
USA
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
) as a climactic event at the end of a series of tournaments sponsored by
Virginia Slims
Virginia Slims is an American brand of cigarettes owned by Altria. It is manufactured by Philip Morris USA (in the United States) and Philip Morris International (outside the United States).
Virginia Slims are narrower ( circumference) than sta ...
, called the
Virginia Slims Circuit
The Virginia Slims Circuit was a tennis tour consisting of a group of originally nine female professional players. Formed in 1970, the Virginia Slims Circuit eventually became the basis for the later WTA Tour. The players, dubbed the ''Original 9'' ...
.
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
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, California from 1974 to 1976 before moving to
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
in New York City in 1977. With the exception of a one-year move to
Oakland, California
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
in 1978, the Championships remained at MSG until 2000. The event then briefly moved to
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
, Germany in 2001. More recently, it moved back to Los Angeles from 2002 to 2005. The 2006 and 2007 editions were held in
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
, Spain.
Doha
Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...
,
Qatar
Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...
hosted the 2008–2010 editions before passing the flag to
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
, 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
Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering a ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
;
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
,
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
;
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
; and
Tianjin
Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
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.
In 2018, WTA announced the new host city from 2019 to 2028 will be
Shenzhen
Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...
, China, however the 2020 event was canceled and the 2021 event was moved to
Guadalajara, Mexico
Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Mexico, while the Guadalaja ...
due to
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
and travel restrictions. In December 2021, WTA announced "immediate suspension of all WTA tournaments in China, including Hong Kong", over concerns of Chinese government's treatment of tennis player
Peng Shuai
Peng Shuai (; born 8 January 1986) is a Chinese retired professional tennis player. In February 2014, she was ranked world No. 1 doubles player by the WTA, becoming the first Chinese tennis player to achieve that ranking (in either single ...
after she accused a top Communist Party leader of sexual assault.
Format
From 1984 to 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 1974 until the 1982 edition the doubles draw consisted of four teams; then from 1983 to 2002 the draw increased to eight teams; was decreased back to four teams until 2013 and from the 2014 edition onward it has been made up of eight teams. From its first inception in 1973 until 2018 the doubles draw was played in a single elimination format. In 2015 and from 2019 until the present the doubles draw has been played in a round robin format.
Qualified players and teams participate in a round-robin format in two groups of four. The winners and runners-up of each group advance to the semifinals. The semifinal winners progress through to the finals where they compete for the title.
Qualification
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 Shenzhen 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. The eighth spot in singles is not guaranteed a place in the finals as the WTA has some leeway per the WTA rules.
In the singles, point totals are calculated by combining point totals from 16 tournaments (excluding
ITF and
WTA 125 tournaments
WTA 125 tournaments are an international series of professional women's tennis tournaments organized by the Women's Tennis Association since 2012.
In the past (2012–2015) sometimes called the WTA Challenger seriesGrand Slam
Grand Slam most often refers to:
* Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves
Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to:
Games and sports
* Grand slam, winning category te ...
events, the four
WTA 1000 tournaments
WTA 1000 tournaments is a category of tennis tournaments on the WTA Tour, governed by the Women's Tennis Association. The old WTA Premier Mandatory and Premier 5 tournaments merged into a single highest tier and it is implemented since the r ...
with 1,000 points for the winner, and (for the players who played the main draw at least in 2 such tournaments) the best results from two WTA 1000 tournaments with 900 points maximum must be included as well as points from 6 other countable tournaments. In the doubles, point totals are calculated by any combination of eleven tournaments throughout the year, not abiding to the mandatory Grand-Slam or Premier-level tournaments rule like for singles.
Venues
Prize money and points
The total prize money for the 2022 WTA Finals is US$5,000,000. The tables below are based on the updated draw sheet information.
* An undefeated champion would earn the maximum 1,500 points, and $1,680,000 in singles or $360,000 in doubles.
Since 2014, the singles and doubles winners of the tournament receive the Billie Jean King Trophy and the Martina Navratilova trophy,
respectively.
List of finals
Singles
Doubles
Titles by country
Singles
List of champions
Records and statistics
Note: Active players indicated in bold.
Singles
Youngest & oldest champions
Longest and shortest matches
Singles
;
Best-of-five-sets system:
;
Best-of-three-sets system:
Doubles
Year-end championships double & triple
Winning three or two out of the four Year-ending championships since its inception in 1972: WTA Championships/Finals, Series-Ending Championships, Grand Slam Cup, WTA Tournament of Champions/Elite Trophy indicated in bold.
Double crown
Winning the Year-end championships in both singles and doubles in the same year.
Year-end championships triple
WTA Championships – Series-Ending Championships Double
WTA Championships – Grand Slam Cup Double
WTA Championships – WTA Elite Trophy Double
Grand Slam Cup – WTA Elite Trophy Double
Sponsors
The event has a more than 40-year history of corporate sponsorship with the finals named after the sponsoring company.
See also
*
Toyota Championships
The Colgate Series Championships, later named the Toyota Championships were the finales in an annual series of professional women's tennis tournaments for women from 1977 through 1982. The best singles and doubles players of the circuit, based on ...
*
WTA Finals appearances
*
WTA Elite Trophy
The WTA Elite Trophy is the second-tier year-end professional women's tennis tournament on the WTA Tour. It is the successor event of the different format WTA Tournament of Champions, which took place from 2009–14.
The Elite Trophy takes place ...
*
ATP Finals
The ATP Finals is the season-ending championship of the ATP Tour. It is the most significant event in the annual ATP calendar after the four majors as it features the top-eight singles players and top-eight doubles teams based on their results th ...
References
External links
*
{{navboxes, title=Previous women's tournament categories
(1972–2020)
, list1=
{{WTA 1000 tournaments
{{Virginia Slims tennis tournaments
*
Recurring sporting events established in 1972
Articles which contain graphical timelines
1972 establishments in Florida