Players, Groups, Prize Money, Fort Worth: Everything you ever wanted to know about the WTA Finals (but never had time to find out)
All you need to know about the 2022 WTA Finals, the season-ending finale in women’s tennis, which will be held in Fort Worth, Texas this year
Garbine Muguruza and Anett Kontaveit at the 2021 WTA Finals in Guadalajara
Image Credit: Zuma / Panoramic
What are the WTA Finals?
The WTA Finals are the season-ending finale to the women’s tennis season, where the top eight singles players and doubles team compete for the championship.
Where will the WTA Finals be held this year?
In 2018, the WTA Tour announced that the WTA Finals would be held in Shenzhen, China from 2019 to 2028. However, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the suspension of all WTA events in China over concerns of the Chinese government’s treatment of WTA player Peng Shuai – who accused a former top Communist Party leader of sexual assault and then retracted it under pressure – the tournament is being held in a different city for the second year in a row.
In 2021, the tournament was held in Guadalajara, Mexico while this year, it will be held in Fort Worth, Texas.
When will the WTA Finals be held?
The WTA Finals will be held from October 31 to November 7. Details of the tournament schedule are available on the official website.
How can I get tickets for the WTA Finals?
Details on how to purchase tickets for the event are available at this link.
Which players have qualified for the WTA Finals
The WTA Finals are contested by the top eight singles players and doubles teams.
The players who have qualified for the singles event are:
- Iga Swiatek
- Ons Jabeur
- Jessica Pegula
- Coco Gauff
- Maria Sakkari
- Caroline Garcia
- Aryna Sabalenka
- Daria Kasatkina
In doubles, the teams who have qualified are:
- Barbora Krejcikova/ Katerina Siniakova
- Gabriela Dabrowski/ Giuliana Olmos
- Coco Gauff/Jessica Pegula
- Veronika Kudermetova/ Elise Mertens
- Lyudmyla Kichenok/ Jelena Ostapenko
- Xu Yifan/ Yang Zhaoxuan
- Anna Danilina/ Beatriz Haddad Maia
- Desiree Krawczyk/ Demi Schuurs
What are the groups for the 2022 WTA Finals?
The players and teams are divided into two groups of four each, with the top two advancing to the semi-finals. In singles, the groups are named after WTA legends Tracy Austin and Nancy Richey. In doubles, the groups are named after Rosie Casals and Pam Shriver.
What surface are the WTA Finals being played on?
The WTA Finals are played on indoor hard courts.
What is the Order of Play for the 2022 WTA Finals?
You can find the daily schedule for the WTA Finals in Fort Worth, Texas can be viewed here.
Who are the defending champions?
Garbine Muguruza won the singles title at the 2021 WTA Finals, beating Anett Kontaveit 6-3, 7-5, while Krejcikova/ Siniakova lifted the women’s doubles title with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Elise Mertens/ Su-Wei Hsieh.
What is the prize money on offer?
There is a financial commitment of $5,000,000 at the WTA Finals.
A singles player can win $1.68 million if they go undefeated through the tournament whereas the doubles team can earn up to $365,00 during the week.
Singles Prize Money:
- $110,000 participation fee and $110,000 for each round-robin win
- If a player reaches the semi-finals, she earns an additional $30,000
- A semi-final win nets them an additional $420,000
- Winning the title will get them an additional $820,000
Doubles Prize Money:
- $50,000 participation fee and $20,000 for each round-robin win
- If a team reaches the semi-finals, they earn an additional $5,000
- A semi-final win nets them an additional $80,000
- Winning the final will get them an additional $170,000
What are the ranking points on offer?
An undefeated champion can receive 1,500 ranking points. Here the breakdown of the ranking points awarded during the tournament:
- 125 points for each match played during the round robin
- 125 points for each match won during the round robin
- +330 points in case of qualification for the final
- +420 points in case of title
Who are the previous champions of the WTA Finals?
Some of the biggest names in women’s tennis have won the WTA Finals. Here is a list of the singles champions together with the year in which they won:
- Chris Evert (1972, 1973, 1977)
- Evonne Goolagong Cawley (1974)
- Martina Navratilova (1978, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986)
- Tracy Austin (1980)
- Sylvia Hanika (1982)
- Steffi Graf (1987, 1989, 1993, 1995, 1996)
- Gabriela Sabatini (1988, 1994)
- Monica Seles (1990, 1991, 1992)
- Jana Novotna (1997)
- Martina Hingis (1998, 2000)
- Lindsay Davenport (1999)
- Serena Williams (2001, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014)
- Kim Clijsters (2002, 2003, 2010)
- Maria Sharapova (2004)
- Amelie Mauresmo (2005)
- Justine Henin (2006, 2007)
- Venus Williams (2008)
- Petra Kvitova (2011)
- Agnieszka Radwanska (2015)
- Dominika Cibulkova (2016)
- Caroline Wozniacki (2017)
- Elina Svitolina (2018)
- Ash Barty (2019)
- 2020 – not held due to COVID-19 pandemic
- Garbine Muguruza (2021)
Below is a list of the doubles champions along with the year in which they won:
- 1972 – no doubles played
- Rosemary Casals/ Margaret Court (1973)
- Rosemary Casals/ Billie Jean King (1974)
- Margaret Court/ Virginia Wade (1975)
- Billie Jean King/ Betty Stove (1976)
- Martina Navratilova/ Betty Stove (1977)
- Billie Jean King/ Martina Navratilova (1978)
- Françoise Durr/ Betty Stove (1979)
- Billie Jean King / Martina Navratilova (1980)
- Martina Navratilova/ Pam Shriver (1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985)
- Hana Mandlikova/ Wendy Turnbull (1986 – March)
- Martina Navratilova/ Pam Shriver (1986 – November, 1987, 1988, 1989)
- Kathy Jordan/ Elizabeth Smylie (1990)
- Martina Navratilova/ Pam Shriver (1991)
- Arantxa Sanchez Vicario/ Helena Sukova (1992)
- Gigi Fernandez/ Natalia Zvereva (1993, 1994)
- Jana Novtona/ Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (1995)
- Lindsay Davenport/ Mary Joe Fernandez (1996)
- Lindsay Davenport/ Jana Novotna (1997)
- Lindsay Davenport/ Natasha Zvereva (1998)
- Martina Hingis/ Anna Kournikova (1999, 2000)
- Lisa Raymond/ Rennae Stubbs (2001)
- Elena Dementieva/ Janette Husarova (2002)
- Virginia Ruano Pascual/ Paola Suarez (2003)
- Nadia Petrova/ Meghann Shaughnessy (2004)
- Lisa Raymond/ Samantha Stosur (2005, 2006)
- Cara Black/ Liezel Huber (2007, 2008)
- Nuria Llagostera Vives/ Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (2009)
- Gisela Dulko/ Flavia Pennetta (2010)
- Liezel Huber/ Lisa Raymond (2011)
- Maria Kirilenko/ Nadia Petrova (2012)
- Hsieh Su-wei/ Peng Shuai (2013)
- Cara Black/ Sania Mirza (2014)
- Martina Hingis/ Sania Mirza (2015)
- Ekaterina Makarova/ Elena Vesnina (2016)
- Timea Babos/ Andrea Hlavackova (2017)
- Timea Babos/ Kristina Mladenovic (2018, 2019)
- 2020 – not held due to COVID-19 pandemic
- Barbora Krejcikova/ Katerina Siniakova (2021)
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