The WTA Finals start on Saturday, 1 November in Saudi Arabia, with the top eight women’s players in singles and doubles competing in Riyadh.
Matches take place in a round-robin format between two groups of four. The top two players or doubles pairs from each group advance to the knockout stage.
The tournament takes place at the King Saud University Indoor Arena, playing on hard courts, following a three-year deal to stage the event in the country.
The final is on Sunday, 8 November, with the singles winner lifting the Billie Jean King Trophy and the doubles earning the Martina Navratilova Trophy.
Coco Gauff is the defending singles champion after beating China’s Zheng Qinwen in 2024’s final.
Who is playing?
The players are split into two groups of four for both the singles and doubles draws.
The Stefanie Graf Group consists of top seed Aryna Sabalenka, French Open champion Coco Gauff, fifth seed Jessica Pegula and eighth seed Jasmine Paolini.
Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek headlines the Serena Williams Group, along with fourth seed Amanda Anisimova, sixth seed Elena Rybakina and Australian Open winner Madison Keys.
Italy’s Paolini is also competing in the doubles alongside partner Sara Errani, having won the French Open together.
They are the top seeds and will compete in the Martina Navratilova Group against Wimbledon champions Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens, sixth seed Hsieh Su-Wei and Jelena Ostapenko and eighth seeds Asia Muhammad and Demi Schuurs.
Australian Open champions Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend headline the Liezel Huber Group, along with third seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe, fifth seeds Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider and seventh seed Timea Babos and Luisa Stefani.
What is the prize money?
The tournament is offering £12m ($15.5m) in total prize money, an increase of $250,000 on 2024.
World number one Sabalenka has earned the most money on the WTA Tour this season – pocketing £9.3m ($12.3m) over the course of her campaign.
Wimbledon champion Swiatek is second – earning £7m ($9.4m).
How many ranking points are available?
The winner of the singles event can earn a maximum of 1,500 points if they go undefeated throughout the tournament.
Players earn 125 points per round-robin match and 160 points per each round-robin victory.
The Grand Slams – Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, US Open – award 2,000 points to the winner.
Who are the past winners?
Navratilova holds the record for the most WTA Final victories with eight.
Monica Seles holds the record as the youngest champion following her 1990 triumph at the age of 16 years and 11 months.
Nobody has defended their title since Serena Williams won three on the spin in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
The past 10 winners:
- 2024 – Coco Gauff
- 2023 – Iga Swiatek
- 2022 – Caroline Garcia
- 2021 – Garbine Muguruza
- 2019 – Ashleigh Barty
- 2018 – Elina Switolina
- 2017 – Caroline Wozniacki
- 2016 – Dominika Cibulkova
- 2015 – Agnieszka Radwanska
- 2014 – Serena Williams
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