As the WTA Finals prepares for its next chapter, this year’s edition is still to be written.
After an early end to the deal to host its flagship event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the WTA is stopping off at Indian Wells, Calif., before a three-year run in Charlotte, N.C. Over those four editions, the governing body intends to restore its flagship event’s status and relevance, starting this November in the Coachella Valley.
The eight best singles players and doubles pairs of the season will compete. The tournament was set to be headlined by the new world No. 1, Elena Rybakina, and the player she dethroned, world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka. But Rybakina, this year’s Australian Open and U.S. Open champion, withdrew due to a viral illness on the eve of the tournament. Sabalenka, who lost to Rybakina in both of those Grand Slam finals, will look to make a statement heading into 2027.
French Open champion Mirra Andreeva and Wimbledon champion Linda Nosková are making their debuts at the event, while Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula of the U.S. return and Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina looks to cap her best season in a long time. She will now be joined by compatriot Marta Kostyuk, who replaces Rybakina as an alternate.
Here’s everything you need to know about the tournament, with the schedule and results to be updated as it gets underway from Nov. 8.
How does the WTA Finals draw work?
The eight players who qualified were split into four pots for the draw. Pot 1 is No. 1 and No. 2, Pot 2 is No. 3 and No. 4, and so on.
These seedings follow the players’ rankings in the WTA Race, a table that counts only ranking points earned in 2026.
Each player then plays three round-robin matches. The top two players from each group contest the semifinals, with the winners meeting in the final.
What are the groups for 2026?
Singles
Group 1
🇺🇸 Coco Gauff (4)
🇺🇸 Jessica Pegula (5)
🇨🇿 Linda Nosková (8)
🇺🇦 Marta Kostyuk (ALT)
Group 2
🇧🇾 Aryna Sabalenka (2)
🇷🇺 Mirra Andreeva (3)
🇺🇦 Elina Svitolina (6)
🇨🇿 Karolína Muchová (7)
Doubles
🇨🇦 Gabriela Dabrowski and 🇧🇷 Luisa Stefani (1)
🇨🇳 Guo Hanyu and 🇫🇷 Kristina Mladenovic (3)
🇱🇻 Jelena Ostapenko and 🇹🇼 Hsieh Su-wei (5)
🇧🇪 Elise Mertens and 🇨🇳 Zhang Shuai (7)
🇺🇸 Taylor Townsend and 🇨🇿 Kateřina Siniaková (2)
🇺🇸 Nicole Melichar-Martinez and 🇪🇸 Cristina Bucșa (4)
🇦🇺 Ellen Perez and 🇳🇱 Demi Schuurs (6)
🇮🇹 Jasmine Paolini and 🇮🇹 Sara Errani (8)
What is the schedule?
The tournament starts Nov. 8. There are six days of round-robin competition, with two singles matches and two doubles matches per day. The singles matches are played first, starting at 12 p.m. PT / 3 p.m. ET.
On Nov. 14, it is semifinal day, with singles again followed by doubles and play again starting at 12 p.m. PT. The finals follow the same schedule on Nov. 15.
The order of play is as follows:
Sunday Nov. 8
Linda Nosková (8) def. Marta Kostyuk (ALT) 6-2, 6-4.
Coco Gauff (4) def. Jessica Pegula (5) (5) 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-2.
Sara Errani / Jasmine Paolini (8) def. Kateřina Siniaková / Taylor Townsend (2) 4-6, 6-1, (10-8).
Cristina Bucșa / Nicole Melichar-Martinez (4) def. Ellen Perez / Demi Schuurs (6) 6-0, 6-4.
Monday Nov. 9
Aryna Sabalenka (2) def. Karolína Muchová (7) 7-6(2), 7-5.
Mirra Andreeva (3) def. Elina Svitolina (6) 6-4, 6-0.
Gabriela Dabrowski / Luisa Stefani (1) def. Elise Mertens / Zhang Shuai (7) 6-3, 7-6(5).
Guo Hanyu / Kristina Mladenovic (3) def. Hsieh Su-wei / Jelena Ostapenko (5) 3-6, 6-1, (12-10).
Tuesday Nov. 10
Jessica Pegula (5) def. Marta Kostyuk (ALT) 6-2, 7-5. The result means that Kostyuk is eliminated.
Linda Nosková (8) def. Coco Gauff (4) 6-3, 6-3. The result means that Gauff and Pegula will play for a semifinal spot Thursday.
Kateřina Siniaková / Taylor Townsend (2) vs. Ellen Perez / Demi Schuurs (6)
Cristina Bucșa / Nicole Melichar-Martinez (4) vs. Sara Errani / Jasmine Paolini (8)
Wednesday Nov. 11
Elina Svitolina (6) vs. Karolína Muchová (7)
Aryna Sabalenka (2) vs. Mirra Andreeva (3)
Luisa Stefani / Gaby Dabrowski (1) vs. Kristina Mladenovic / Guo Hanyu (3)
Hsieh Su-wei / Jelena Ostapenko (5) vs. Elise Mertens / Zhang Shuai (7)
Who won last year’s tournament?
Rybakina won the singles title at the 2025 WTA Finals, held in Riyadh. She defeated Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6(0) in the final, winning all five of her matches at the event. The title earned Rybakina the largest winner’s check in women’s sports history, at $5,235,000.
In the doubles, Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova and Belgium’s Elise Mertens defeated Brazilian duo Tímea Babos and Luisa Stefani in the final, 7-6(4), 6-1. They split just over $1 million.
What is the prize money for the 2026 WTA Finals?
This year’s prize pool is $10 million, with $8 million for the singles competition and $2 million. It is allocated per match win and structured so the singles champion takes home the biggest prize if they go through the event undefeated with five wins (three round-robin wins, a semifinal win, and then victory in the final).
Last year’s prize pool was $15.5 million.
The winner of the singles final will receive $3.37 million, while the winner of each semifinal will receive $820,000; the prize for a round-robin match win is $230,000 and each singles player receives $220,000 just for appearing at the event, provided that they play all three of their round-robin matches.
The winning doubles pair will receive $725,000 if they go undefeated.
What ranking points do the players receive?
Round-robin wins carry 200 points, a semifinal win carries 400 points and a final win carries 500 points. An undefeated champion (three round-robin wins, a semifinal win and a final win) will earn 1,500 points.
Why is the event in Indian Wells?
Saudi Arabia’s sports ministry and the Saudi Tennis Federation completed a three-year deal for the WTA Finals in April 2024. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund already sponsored the ATP and WTA world rankings, and this deal was the biggest element of the kingdom’s push into tennis before it announced an ATP Masters 1000 tournament that will start as early as 2028.
That deal ended a year early, in part because of the Iran conflict but also because the WTA Finals had outlived its usefulness to Saudi Arabia’s wider tennis ambitions, two people briefed on its sports ministry’s operations, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said.
“We have an incredible opportunity to bring the WTA Finals, a world-class, premium global event showcasing the best in women’s tennis, to a new home,” a spokesperson for the WTA said in a statement following the announcement of the early departure from Saudi Arabia.
That departure left the WTA Tour in need of a venue for 2026, and it alighted on Indian Wells, where the prestigious ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 event is held each March. From 2027, the WTA Finals will be held in Charlotte, N.C., for at least three years.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Sports Business, Culture, Tennis, Tennis Tournaments 2026, Women’s Tennis
2026 The Athletic Media Company
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