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WTA Tour Championships

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WTA Tour Championships
2012 WTA Tour Championships
WTA Tour
Location Istanbul
 Turkey (2011–2013)
Venue Sinan Erdem Dome
Category Premier tournaments
Surface Hard / Indoors
Draw 8S / 4D
Prize Money US$4,900,000 (2011)
Website WTA Championships

The WTA Tour Championships is a tennis tournament played annually at the end of the season for the top-ranked players on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) tour. The month, city and number of players has changed since the first edition in 1972. Since 2003 there have been eight singles players divided into two groups, and four doubles teams.

The WTA Tour Championships is generally considered to be the fifth most prestigious event on the women's tour after the four Grand Slam tournaments. It also has the largest prize money and ranking points after the Grand Slams.

The most successful player by far has been Martina Navratilova with 8 singles titles and 12 in doubles.

A similar event on the men's tour is the ATP World Tour Finals (formerly the Tennis Masters Cup).

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. 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 (MSG) 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 is scheduled to host 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.

From 1972–1978, the event was known as the Virginia Slims Championships. When Avon took over as the tour sponsor from 1979–1982, the event was known as the Avon Championships. Virginia Slims returned as the tour sponsor in 1983 and the event name reverted to the Virginia Slims Championships. It remained that way until 1994 when Virginia Slims ended their sponsorship of the WTA Tour. In 1995, without a tour sponsor, the event was simply referred to as the WTA Tour Championships. From 1996 to 2000, it was called the Chase Championships. In 2001, it was the Sanex Championships while in 2002, it was the Home Depot Championships. In 2003 and 2004, the event name was once again the WTA Tour Championships. From 2005 to 2010, with Sony Ericsson as tour sponsor, the event was called the Sony Ericsson Championships. From 2011 through to 2013 the tournament had a joint title sponsor. The event was sponsored by BNP Paribas and Türk Ekonomi Bankasý and known as the TEB–BNP Paribas WTA Championships.

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 1902 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.

Venues

Years Town Venue Surface Capacity
1972–1973 United States Boca Raton Clay
1974–1976 United States Los Angeles Carpet
1977 United States New York City Madison Square Garden Carpet 18,000
1978 United States Oakland Oakland Arena Carpet
1979–2000 United States New York City Madison Square Garden Carpet 18,000
2001 Germany Munich Olympiahalle Hard 12,000
2002–2005 United States Los Angeles Staples Centre Hard 17,000
2006–2007 Spain Madrid Madrid Arena Hard 10,500
2008–2010 Qatar Doha Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex Hard 6,911
2011–2013 Turkey Istanbul Sinan Erdem Dome Hard (i) 16,410
2014–2016 Candidate Cities:
Mexico Monterrey
Singapore Singapore
China Tianjin
TBD TBD TBD

Past results

Singles

Match held in best-of-five-sets format
Year Champion Runner-up Score in final
1972 United States Chris Evert Australia Kerry Melville Reid 7–5, 6–4
1973 United States Chris Evert (2) United States Nancy Richey Gunter 6–3, 6–3
1974 Australia Evonne Goolagong Cawley United States Chris Evert 6–3, 6–4
1975 United States Chris Evert (3) Czechoslovakia Martina Navratilova 6–4, 6–2
1976 Australia Evonne Goolagong Cawley (2) United States Chris Evert 6–3, 5–7, 6–3
1977 United States Chris Evert (4) United Kingdom Sue Barker 2–6, 6–1, 6–1
1978 Czechoslovakia Martina Navratilova Australia Evonne Goolagong Cawley 7–6(7–0), 6–4
1979 Czechoslovakia Martina Navratilova (2) United States Tracy Austin 6–3, 3–6, 6–2
1980 United States Tracy Austin Czechoslovakia Martina Navratilova 6–2, 2–6, 6–2
1981 Czechoslovakia Martina Navratilova (3) United States Andrea Jaeger 6–3, 7–6(7–3)
1982 Germany Sylvia Hanika United States Martina Navratilova 1–6, 6–3, 6–4
1983 United States Martina Navratilova (4) United States Chris Evert 6–2, 6–0
1984 United States Martina Navratilova (5) United States Chris Evert 6–3, 7–5, 6–1
1985 United States Martina Navratilova (6) Czechoslovakia Helena Suková 6–3, 7–5, 6–4
1986 (Mar.) United States Martina Navratilova (7) Czechoslovakia Hana Mandlíková 6–2, 6–0, 3–6, 6–1
1986 (Nov.) United States Martina Navratilova (8) Germany Steffi Graf 7–6(8–6), 6–3, 6–2
1987 Germany Steffi Graf Argentina Gabriela Sabatini 4–6, 6–4, 6–0, 6–4
1988 Argentina Gabriela Sabatini United States Pam Shriver 7–5, 6–2, 6–2
1989 Germany Steffi Graf (2) United States Martina Navratilova 6–4, 7–5, 2–6, 6–2
1990 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Monica Seles Argentina Gabriela Sabatini 6–4, 5–7, 3–6, 6–4, 6–2
1991 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Monica Seles (2) United States Martina Navratilova 6–4, 3–6, 7–5, 6–0
1992 Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Monica Seles (3) United States Martina Navratilova 7–5, 6–3, 6–1
1993 Germany Steffi Graf (3) Spain Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 6–1, 6–4, 3–6, 6–1
1994 Argentina Gabriela Sabatini (2) United States Lindsay Davenport 6–3, 6–2, 6–4
1995 Germany Steffi Graf (4) Germany Anke Huber 6–1, 2–6, 6–1, 4–6, 6–3
1996 Germany Steffi Graf (5) Switzerland Martina Hingis 6–3, 4–6, 6–0, 4–6, 6–0
1997 Czech Republic Jana Novotná France Mary Pierce 7–6(7–4), 6–2, 6–3
1998 Switzerland Martina Hingis United States Lindsay Davenport 7–5, 6–4, 4–6, 6–2
1999 United States Lindsay Davenport Switzerland Martina Hingis 6–4, 6–2
2000 Switzerland Martina Hingis (2) United States Monica Seles 6–7(5–7), 6–4, 6–4
2001 United States Serena Williams United States Lindsay Davenport walkover
2002 Belgium Kim Clijsters United States Serena Williams 7–5, 6–3
2003 Belgium Kim Clijsters (2) France Amélie Mauresmo 6–2, 6–0
2004 Russia Maria Sharapova United States Serena Williams 4–6, 6–2, 6–4
2005 France Amélie Mauresmo France Mary Pierce 5–7, 7–6(7–3), 6–4
2006 Belgium Justine Henin France Amélie Mauresmo 6–4, 6–3
2007 Belgium Justine Henin (2) Russia Maria Sharapova 5–7, 7–5, 6–3
2008 United States Venus Williams Russia Vera Zvonareva 6–7(5–7), 6–0, 6–2
2009 United States Serena Williams (2) United States Venus Williams 6–2, 7–6(7–4)
2010 Belgium Kim Clijsters (3) Denmark Caroline Wozniacki 6–3, 5–7, 6–3
2011 Czech Republic Petra Kvitová Belarus Victoria Azarenka 7–5, 4–6, 6–3
2012 United States Serena Williams (3) Russia Maria Sharapova 6–4, 6–3

Timeline

Martina Navratilova Chris Evert

Doubles

Year Champion Runner-up Score in final
1972 no doubles played
1973 United States Rosemary Casals
Australia Margaret Court
France Françoise Dürr
Netherlands Betty Stöve
6–2, 6–4
1974 United States Rosemary Casals
United States Billie Jean King
France Françoise Dürr
Netherlands Betty Stöve
6–1, 6–7(2–7), 7–5
1975 Australia Margaret Court
United Kingdom Virginia Wade
United States Rosemary Casals
United States Billie Jean King
6-7(2–7), 7-6(7–2), 6-2
1976 no doubles played
1977 Czechoslovakia Martina Navrátilová
Netherlands Betty Stöve
France Françoise Dürr
United Kingdom Virginia Wade
7-5, 6-3
1978 no doubles played
1979 France Françoise Dürr
Netherlands Betty Stöve
United Kingdom Sue Barker
United States Ann Kiyomura
7–6, 7–6
1980 United States Billie Jean King
Czechoslovakia Martina Navrátilová
United States Rosemary Casals
Australia Wendy Turnbull
6–3, 4–6, 6–3
1981 Czechoslovakia Martina Navrátilová
United States Pam Shriver
United States Barbara Potter
United States Sharon Walsh
6–0, 7–6(8–6)
1982 United States Martina Navrátilová
United States Pam Shriver
United States Kathy Jordan
United States Anne Smith
6–4, 6–3
1983 United States Martina Navrátilová
United States Pam Shriver
West Germany Claudia Kohde-Kilsch
West Germany Eva Pfaff
7–5, 6–2
1984 United States Martina Navrátilová
United States Pam Shriver
United Kingdom Jo Durie
United States Ann Kiyomura
6–3, 6–1
1985 United States Martina Navrátilová
United States Pam Shriver
West Germany Claudia Kohde-Kilsch
Czechoslovakia Helena Suková
6–7(4–7), 6–4, 7–6(7–5)
1986 (Mar.) Czechoslovakia Hana Mandlíková
Australia Wendy Turnbull
West Germany Claudia Kohde-Kilsch
Czechoslovakia Helena Suková
6–4, 6–7(4–7), 6–3
1986 (Nov.) United States Martina Navrátilová
United States Pam Shriver
West Germany Claudia Kohde-Kilsch
Czechoslovakia Helena Suková
7–6(1), 6–3
1987 United States Martina Navrátilová
United States Pam Shriver
West Germany Claudia Kohde-Kilsch
Czechoslovakia Helena Suková
6–1, 6–1
1988 United States Martina Navrátilová
United States Pam Shriver
Soviet Union Larisa Savchenko
Soviet Union Natalia Zvereva
6–3, 6–4
1989 United States Martina Navrátilová
United States Pam Shriver
Soviet Union Larisa Savchenko
Soviet Union Natalia Zvereva
6–3, 6–2
1990 United States Kathy Jordan
Australia Elizabeth Smylie
Argentina Mercedes Paz
Spain Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
7–6(7–4), 6–4
1991 United States Martina Navrátilová
United States Pam Shriver
United States Gigi Fernández
Czechoslovakia Jana Novotná
4–6, 7–5, 6–4
1992 Spain Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
Czechoslovakia Helena Suková
Czechoslovakia Jana Novotná
Latvia Larisa Savchenko Neiland
7–6(7–4), 6–1
1993 United States Gigi Fernández
Belarus Natalia Zvereva
Czech Republic Jana Novotná
Latvia Larisa Neiland
6–3, 7–5
1994 United States Gigi Fernández
Belarus Natasha Zvereva
Czech Republic Jana Novotná
Spain Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
6–3, 6–7(4–7), 6–3
1995 Czech Republic Jana Novotná
Spain Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
United States Gigi Fernández
Belarus Natasha Zvereva
6–2, 6–1
1996 United States Lindsay Davenport
United States Mary Joe Fernández
Czech Republic Jana Novotná
Spain Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
6–3, 6–2
1997 United States Lindsay Davenport
Czech Republic Jana Novotná
France Alexandra Fusai
France Nathalie Tauziat
6–7(5–7), 6–3, 6–2
1998 United States Lindsay Davenport
Belarus Natasha Zvereva
France Alexandra Fusai
France Nathalie Tauziat
6–7(6–8), 7–5, 6–3
1999 Switzerland Martina Hingis
Russia Anna Kournikova
Spain Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
Latvia Larisa Neiland
6–4, 6–4
2000 Switzerland Martina Hingis
Russia Anna Kournikova
United States Nicole Arendt
Netherlands Manon Bollegraf
6–2, 6–3
2001 United States Lisa Raymond
Australia Rennae Stubbs
Zimbabwe Cara Black
Russia Elena Likhovtseva
7–5, 3–6, 6–3
2002 Russia Elena Dementieva
Slovakia Janette Husárová
Zimbabwe Cara Black
Russia Elena Likhovtseva
4–6, 6–4, 6–3
2003 Spain Virginia Ruano Pascual
Argentina Paola Suárez
Belgium Kim Clijsters
Japan Ai Sugiyama
6–4, 3–6, 6–3
2004 Russia Nadia Petrova
United States Meghann Shaughnessy
Zimbabwe Cara Black
Australia Rennae Stubbs
7–5, 6–2
2005 United States Lisa Raymond
Australia Samantha Stosur
Zimbabwe Cara Black
Australia Rennae Stubbs
6–7(5–7), 7–5, 6–4
2006 United States Lisa Raymond
Australia Samantha Stosur
Zimbabwe Cara Black
Australia Rennae Stubbs
3–6, 6–3, 6–3
2007 Zimbabwe Cara Black
United States Liezel Huber
Slovenia Katarina Srebotnik
Japan Ai Sugiyama
5–7, 6–3, [10–8]
2008 Zimbabwe Cara Black
United States Liezel Huber
Czech Republic Květa Peschke
Australia Rennae Stubbs
6–1, 7–5
2009 Spain Nuria Llagostera Vives
Spain María José Martínez Sánchez
Zimbabwe Cara Black
United States Liezel Huber
7–6(7–0), 5–7, [10–7]
2010 Argentina Gisela Dulko
Italy Flavia Pennetta
Czech Republic Květa Peschke
Slovenia Katarina Srebotnik
7–5, 6–4
2011 United States Liezel Huber
United States Lisa Raymond
Czech Republic Květa Peschke
Slovenia Katarina Srebotnik
6–4, 6–4
2012 Russia Maria Kirilenko
Russia Nadia Petrova
Czech Republic Andrea Hlaváčková
Czech Republic Lucie Hradecká
6–1, 6–4

Honour roll (2003-present)

Singles

W = winner
tF = finalist (runner-up)
SF = Semi final
RR = Round robin
(A) = Alternate
W-L = win-loss
Player Result A
p
p
e
a
r
a
n
c
e
s
RR W–L RR W Rate SF&F W–L SF&F W Rate F W–L
Belarus Victoria Azarenka tF:11 SF:12 RR:09,10 4 06–06 0.5 01-02 0.33 0-1
France Marion Bartoli RR:07,11(A) 2 02–01 0.67
United States Jennifer Capriati SF:03 1 02–01 0.67 00-01 0
Russia Anna Chakvetadze SF:07 1 02-01 0.67 00-01 0
Belgium Kim Clijsters W:03,10 SF:06 RR:05 4 08–04 0.67 04-01 0.8 2-0
United States Lindsay Davenport SF:05 RR:04 2 04-02 0.67 00-01 0
Russia Elena Dementieva SF:08 RR:03-06,09,10 7 05–16 0.24 00-01 0
Italy Sara Errani RR:12 1 01-02 0.33
Slovakia Daniela Hantuchová RR:07 1 01–02 0.33
Belgium Justine Henin W:06,07 SF:03 3 07-02 0.78 04-01 0.8 2-0
Switzerland Martina Hingis RR:06 1 01–02 0.33
Serbia Ana Ivanovic SF:07 RR:08 2 02-03 0.4 00-01 0
Serbia Jelena Janković SF:08,09 RR:07,10 4 04-08 0.33 00-02 0
Germany Angelique Kerber RR:12 1 00-03 0
Russia Svetlana Kuznetsova RR:04,06-09 5 03–12 0.2
Czech Republic Petra Kvitová W:11 RR:12 2 03-01 0.75 02-00 1 1-0
China Li Na RR:11,12 2 02-04 0.33
France Amélie Mauresmo W:05 tF:03,06 SF:04 4 09-03 0.75 04-03 0.57 1-2
Russia Anastasia Myskina SF:04 RR:03 2 03–03 0.5 00-01 0
Russia Nadia Petrova RR:05,06,08(A) 3 02-05 0.29
France Mary Pierce tF:05 1 03–00 1 01-01 0.5 0-1
Poland Agnieszka Radwańska SF:12 RR:08(A),09(A),11 4 05-03 0.63 00-01 0
United States Chanda Rubin RR:03 1 01–02 0.33
Russia Dinara Safina RR:08,09 2 00–04 0
Italy Francesca Schiavone RR:10 1 01–02 0.33
Switzerland Patty Schnyder RR:05 1 01-02 0.33
Russia Maria Sharapova W:04 tF:07,12 SF:05,06 RR:11 6 13-04 0.76 04-04 0.5 1-2
Australia Samantha Stosur SF:10,11 RR:12(A) 3 04-04 0.5 00-02 0
Japan Ai Sugiyama RR:03 1 01-02 0.33
United States Serena Williams W:09,12 tF:04 RR:07,08 5 09-03 0.75 05-01 0.83 2-1
United States Venus Williams W:08 tF:09 2 04-02 0.67 03-01 0.75 1-1
Denmark Caroline Wozniacki tF:10 SF:09 RR:11 3 05-04 0.56 01-02 0.33 0-1
Russia Vera Zvonareva tF:08 SF:10,11 RR:04,09(A) 5 07-06 0.54 01-03 0.25 0-1

Final appearances by country

Singles

Titles won Country Years Won Runners Up
15 United States United States 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1983,
1984, 1985, 19861, 19862, 1999, 2001,
2008, 2009, 2012
1973, 1974, 1976, 1979, 1981, 1982,
1983, 1984, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992,
1994, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004,
2009
6 Germany Germany 1982, 1987, 1989, 1993, 1995, 1996 19862, 1995
5 Belgium Belgium 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2010
Czech Republic Czechoslovakia/
 Czech Republic
1978, 1979, 1981, 1997, 2011 1975, 1980, 1985, 19861
3 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia/Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia 1990, 1991, 1992
2 Argentina Argentina 1988, 1994 1987, 1990
Australia Australia 1974, 1976 1972, 1978
Switzerland Switzerland 1998, 2000 1996, 1999
1 France France 2005 1997, 2003, 2005, 2006
Russia Russia 2004 2007, 2008, 2012
0 Belarus Belarus 2011
Denmark Denmark 2010
United Kingdom Great Britain 1977
Spain 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
Steffi Graf 5 1987, 1989, 1993, 1995, 1996 1 19862 6
Chris Evert 4 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 4 1974, 1976, 1983, 1984 8
Serena Williams 3 2001, 2009, 2012 2 2002, 2004 5
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 1 2009 2
Sylvia Hanika 1 1982 0 1
Jana Novotná 1 1997 0 1
Petra Kvitová 1 2011 0 1
Mary Pierce 0 2 1997, 2005 2
Sue Barker 0 1 1977 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
Caroline Wozniacki 0 1 2010 1
Victoria Azarenka 0 1 2011 1
  • 1. March
  • 2. Novermber
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