2015 WTA Finals

2015 WTA Finals
Date	October 25 – November 1
Edition	45th (singles) / 40th (doubles)
Draw	8S/8D
Surface	TBD / Indoor
Location	Singapore
Venue	Singapore Indoor Stadium
2014 Champions
Singles
Serena Williams
Doubles
Cara Black / Sania Mirza

The 2015 WTA Finals is a women's tennis tournament at Singapore. It will be the 45th edition of the singles event and the 40th edition of the doubles competition. The tournament will be contested by eight singles players and eight doubles teams.

Tournament

Singapore Indoor Stadium has hosted the WTA Finals for the first time in 2014.

The 2015 WTA Finals happened at the Singapore Indoor Stadium from 26 October to 1 November 2015, and is the 45th edition of the event. The tournament is run by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) as part of the 2015 WTA Tour. Singapore is now the ninth city to host the WTA Finals since its inauguration in 1972 and will host the event for at least five years. The event will also hold two exhibition tournaments, WTA Rising Stars Invitational and the WTA Legends Event. T

Qualifying

In singles, point totals are calculated by combining point totals from sixteen tournaments. Of these sixteen tournaments, a player's results from the four Grand Slam events, the four Premier Mandatory tournaments, and the best results from two Premier 5 tournaments must be included.
In doubles, point totals are calculated by any combination of eleven tournaments throughout the year. Unlike in singles, this combination does not need to include results from the Grand Slams or Premier-level tournaments.

Format

The singles and doubles event features eight players in a round robin event, split into two groups of four. Over the first four days of competition, each player meets the other three players in her group, with the top two in each group advancing to the semifinals. The first-placed player in one group meets the second-placed player in the other group, and vice versa. The winners of each semifinal meet in the championship match.

Round robin tie-breaking methods

The final standings of each group were determined by the first of the following methods that applied:

1. Greatest number of wins.
2. Greatest number of matches played.
3. Head-to-head results if only two players are tied, or if three players are tied then:

a. If three players each have the same number of wins, a player having played less than all three matches is automatically eliminated and the player advancing to the single elimination competition is the winner of the match-up of the two remaining tied players.

b. Highest percentage of sets won.

c. Highest percentage of games won.

Prize money and points

The total prize money for the BNP Paribas 2015 WTA Finals was US$7,000,000.

Stage	Singles	Doubles	Points
Champion	RR1 + $1,750,000	RR + $350,000	RR + 810
Runner-up	RR + $590,000	RR + $110,000	RR + 360
Semifinalist	RR + $40,000	RR + $7,500	RR
Round Robin win per match	+$153,000	+$25,000	+230
Round Robin loss per match	—	—	+70
Participation Fee	3 matches = $151,000 2 matches = $130,000 1 match = $110,000	3 matches = $75,000 2 matches = $60,000 1 match = $50,000	—
Alternates	2 matches = $109,000 1 match = $89,000 0 matches = $68,000	2 matches = $50,500 1 match = $35,000 0 matches = $25,000	—

• ¹ RR means prize money or points won in the round robin round.

Qualified players

Singles

#	Players	Points	Tours	Date Qualified
inj	Serena Williams	6,665	7	6 July
1	Simona Halep	4,965	13	4 September
2	Maria Sharapova	4,321	10	10 September
3	Garbiñe Muguruza	3,726	19	8 October
4	Petra Kvitová	3,491	18	14 October
5
6
7
8

Serena Williams won three Grand Slam titles in 2015.

On 6 July, Serena Williams became the first player to qualify for the Championships. However, she announced her withdrawal on 2 October.

In 2015, Serena Williams decided to start her season at the exhibition event in Perth, at the Hopman Cup teaming up with John Isner, losing in the final to the Polish pairing of Agnieszka Radwańska and Jerzy Janowicz. At the Australian Open, Williams claimed her 19th slam defeating Maria Sharapova 6–3, 7–6^(7–5) putting her 2nd in the most slams won in the Open Era. Williams ended her 14-year boycott of the BNP Paribas Open but withdrew prior to her semifinal match. She then claimed her eighth Miami Open title defeating Carla Suárez Navarro 6–2, 6–0 in just 56 minutes in the final after winning a tough three-set semifinal match against Simona Halep. She then reached the final of the French Open and claimed her 20th slam defeating Lucie Šafářová 6–3, 6–7^(2–7), 6–2, making her only the second person to win each slam three times. She backed it up by winning her 6th Wimbledon title against Garbiñe Muguruza 6–4, 6–4 to become the first person to win three slams six times and first player since Steffi Graf to win the first three slams of the year. Williams returned from an elbow injury in Toronto but was shocked by Swiss teen Belinda Bencic in the semifinals. She then claimed her fifth title of the year at the Western & Southern Open defeating Simona Halep 6–3, 7–6^(7–5). At the US Open, Williams had a chance to win the calendar Grand Slam but was upset by Roberta Vinci 6–2, 4–6, 4–6 in the semifinals. Williams was the three time defending champion, but on October 2, Williams withdrew from the tournament to heal her injuries and recapture her motivation.

Simona Halep won the biggest title of her career at Indian Wells.

On 4 September, Simona Halep became the second player to qualify after her second round win at the US Open.

Simona Halep began the year by winning the Shenzhen Open over Timea Bacsinszky 6-2, 6-2. She then reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open but lost to Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets. She won her second title of the year at the Dubai Tennis Championships defeating Karolína Plíšková 6–4, 7–6^(7–4) in the final. She won the biggest title of her career at the BNP Paribas Open defeating Jelena Janković 2–6, 7–5, 6–4 in the final. However, Halep suffered a dip in form losing to Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in the second round of the French Open and a first-round loss at Wimbledon to Jana Cepelova. Halep rebounded at the US Open Series by reaching back-to-back finals at Toronto and Cincinnati losing to Belinda Bencic 7–6^(7–5), 6–7^(4–7), 3–0 ret. and Serena Williams 6–3, 7–6^(7–5), respectively. Halep reached the semifinals of the US Open but was upset by eventual champion Flavia Pennetta.This is the second time Halep has qualified for the Year-End Championships.

Maria Sharapova was announced as the third qualifier on 10 September.

Maria Sharapova started the year strongly by winning in Brisbane with a win over Ana Ivanovic in the final. At the Australian Open Sharapova saved two match points to beat Alexandra Panova and the second round and went on to reach the final, where she lost to Serena Williams in straight sets. After the Australian Open, a leg strain hampered Sharapova as she suffered three straight early exits to Flavia Pennetta in Indian Wells, Daria Gavrilova in Miami and Angelique Kerber in Stuttgart, where Sharapova was the three-time defending champion. Sharapova rebounded by reaching the semifinals of Madrid, losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova and winning Rome, beating Carla Suarez Navarro in the final. However, this success did not carry over into the French Open where as the defending champion she lost in the fourth round to eventual finalist Lucie Safarova. Sharapova then reached the semifinals of Wimbledon, losing once again to Williams in straight sets. Sharapova withdrew from the US Open Series, she returned at Wuhan, but had to retire from her opening match against Barbora Strycova with a left forearm strain. She subsequently withdrew from Beijing to give herself time to recover for Singapore. This marks the 8th time Sharapova has qualified for the Championships.

Garbine Muguruza became the fourth player to qualify on 8 October following her round of 16 win at the China Open.

Garbine Muguruza started 2015 ranked outside the top 20, but she will be the #2 seed at the WTA Finals. Muguruza lost in the quarterfinals of Sydney to Angelique Kerber and the fourth round Australian Open to Serena Williams. Muguruza then reached her first Premier 5 semifinal in Dubai, where she lost to Karolina Pliskova. She failed to win back-to-back matches until the French Open, where she reached the quarterfinals, losing to Lucie Safarova. At the Wimbledon, Muguruza reached her first Grand Slam final by defeating losing 6-4, 6-4 to Serena Williams. After Wimbledon, Muguruza lost her opening matches in Toronto and Cincinnati. After Cincinnati, Muguruza split with her longtime coach, Alejo Mancisidor. He was replaced by Sam Sumyk. Muguruza lost in the second round of the US Open to Johanna Konta. However, she rebounded in Asia by reaching the final of Wuhan, retiring against Venus Williams and winning her biggest title to date at the China Open where she overcame Bacsinszky in the final in straight sets. This year's Championships is Muguruza's debut.

Petra Kvitová was announced as the fifth qualifier on 14 October.

Petra Kvitová qualified for the Championships for the fifth straight year despite struggling with mononucleosis for most of the 2015 season. She had a bright start to the year, losing in the semifinals of Shenzhen to Timea Bacsinszky and claiming her 15th career title by beating compatriot Karolina Pliskova in the final of Sydney. However, Kvitová was upset in the third round of the Australian Open by young American Madison Keys. Kvitova lost early to Carla Suarez Navarro in both Dubai and Doha. After the loss in Doha, Kvitová withdrew from Indian Wells and Miami, citing exhaustion. Kvitová then lost to Madison Brengle in her first match since coming back from the break in Stuttgart, but less than two weeks later she beat Serena Williams for the first time in her career en route to winning the title at Madrid. At Rome, Kvitová lost in the quarterfinals to Suarez Navarro. Kvitova lost in the round of 16 of the French Open to eventual semifinalist Bacsinszky. At Wimbledon, Kvitová was upset in the third round by former World No. 1 Jelena Jankovic.

After Wimbledon, Kvitová announced that she had been diagnosed with mononucleosis. She was clearly affected in an opening-round thrashing at the hands of Victoria Azarenka in Toronto and in a tough three-set loss to Caroline Garcia in Cincinnati. However, Kvitová rebounded spectacularly by winning the title at New Haven, defeating the likes of Keys, Agnieszka Radwanska, Caroline Wozniacki and Lucie Safarova en route and achieving her career-best result at Flushing Meadows by reaching the quarterfinals. There, she lost in three sets to eventual champion Flavia Pennetta. Kvitova lost in the third round of Wuhan to US Open runner-up Roberta Vinci and in the first round of Beijing to Sara Errani. It has yet to be confirmed if Kvitová has fully recovered from her illness.

Doubles

#	Players	Points	Tours	Date Qualified
1	Martina Hingis (SUI) Sania Mirza (IND)	5,886	12	11 July
2	Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) Lucie Šafářová (CZE)	5,490	8	16 August
3	Casey Dellacqua (AUS) Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ)	4,721	7	15 September
4	Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) Elena Vesnina (RUS)	4,586	10	15 September
5	Timea Babos (HUN) Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)	4,235	17	5 October
6	Katarina Srebotnik (SLO) Caroline Garcia (FRA)	3,705	18	8 October
7	Hao-Ching Chan (TPE) Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)	3,705	13	9 October
8

Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza won Wimbledon in 2015.

On 11 July, Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza became the first doubles players to qualify for the Championships.

Hingis started the season with Sabine Lisicki at Brisbane International, and then continued her partnership with Flavia Pennetta, until a series of disappointing results let her switch with Indian Sania Mirza, who previously played with Hsieh Su-wei and missed the "chemistry" to one another. Right at their debut matches in Indian Wells, Miami and Charleston, the duo claimed three titles in a row. As a result, Mirza overtrumped Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci from the top ranking, and Hingis became the No. 4. The duo then won their season's first Grand Slam at Wimbledon; for Mirza it was the first Grand Slam title, for Hingis the third Wimbledon and first Grand Slam title since 2002. For Hingis, it will be the sixth participation at the Championships, for Mirza, the second. Hingis won the Finals twice, while Mirza is the defending champion.

American Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Czech Lucie Šafářova on 16 August became the second duo to qualify.

Mattek-Sands started the doubles season winning two tournaments in a row, the Apia International Sydney with Sania Mirza and the Australian Open with Lucie Šafářová who would become her main partner throughout the season. After the first-time pairings' debut Grand Slam win, they were especially successful at clay tournaments, championing in Roland Garros and Stuttgart. The Rogers Cup became for Šafářová the second, for Mattek-Sands the first Premier Mandatory title in their doubles career. Both players will debut on that year's Championships.

Player head-to-head

Below are the head-to-head records as they approached the tournament.

Road to Singapore

Singles

Players with a  gold  rank cell are officially qualified for WTA Finals in Singapore.
First 8 players qualify for Singapore (except those with  red  rank cell, who announced not participating).
The two players after them may be an alternate in Singapore.
Players with their name on a  cyan  background are now playing in Tianjin or Hong Kong.

Rank	Athlete	Grand Slam tournament				Premier Mandatory				Best Premier 5		Best other						Total points	Tours	Titles
		AUS	FRA	WIM	USO	INW	MIA	MAD	BEI	1	2	1	2	3	4	5	6
Qualified for WTA Finals
1	Serena Williams	W 2000	W 2000	W 2000	SF 780	SF 390	W 1000	SF 390	A 0	W 900	SF 350	R16 105	R16 30	A 0	A 0			9945	14	5
2	Simona Halep	QF 430	R64 70	R128 10	SF 780	W 1000	SF 390	R64 10	R64 10	W 900	F 585	F 585	SF 350	W 280	SF 185	R16 105	QF 100	5790	17	3
3	Garbiñe Muguruza	R16 240	QF 430	F 1300	R64 70	R32 65	R32 65	R32 65	W 1000	F 585	SF 350	QF 100	QF 100	R16 55	R16 55	R16 30	R32 1	4511	19	1
4	Maria Sharapova	F 1300	R16 240	SF 780	A 0	R16 120	R64 10	SF 390	A 0	W 900	R32 1	W 470	SF 110	R16 1	A 0	A 0	A 0	4322	16	2
5	Petra Kvitová	R32 130	R16 240	R32 130	QF 430	A 0	A 0	W 1000	R64 10	QF 190	R16 105	W 470	W 470	SF 110	R16 105	QF 100	R32 1	3491	18	3
6	Angelique Kerber	R128 10	R32 130	R32 130	R32 130	R64 10	R32 65	R64 10	QF 215	SF 350	R16 105	W 470	W 470	W 470	W 470	SF 185	SF 110	3330	24	4
7	Agnieszka Radwańska	R16 240	R128 10	SF 780	R32 130	R32 65	R16 120	R16 120	SF 390	A 0	QF 190	W 470	F 305	SF 110	SF 110	R16 105	QF 100	3245	23	1
8	Lucie Šafářová	R128 10	F 1300	R16 240	R128 10	R32 65	R64 10	QF 215	A 0	QF 190	QF 190	W 470	F 305	QF 100	R32 60	R16 55	R32 1	3221	20	1
9	Flavia Pennetta	R128 10	R16 240	R128 10	W 2000	QF 215	R16 120	R64 10	R16 120	QF 190	R32 60	R32 60	QF 60	R16 55	R64 1	R32 1	R32 1	3153	18	1
WTA Finals Alternate
10	Timea Bacsinszky	R32 130	SF 780	QF 430	R128 10	QF 215	A 0	R64 10	F 650	R16 105	R64 1	W 280	W 280	F 180	QF 60	R64 1	R32 1	3133	16	2
11	Venus Williams	QF 430	R128 10	R16 240	QF 430	A 0	QF 215	R64 10	R32 10	W 900	R16 105	W 280	SF 185	R16 105	R32 60	QF 60	R64 1	3041	17	2
Unqualified
12	Carla Suárez Navarro	R128 10	R32 130	R128 10	R128 10	QF 215	F 650	QF 215	R16 120	F 585	QF 190	F 305	SF 185	R16 105	QF 100	QF 100	QF 100	3030	23	0
13	Karolína Plíšková	R32 130	R64 70	R64 70	R128 10	R16 120	QF 215	R32 65	R64 10	F 585	QF 190	F 305	F 305	F 305	W 280	SF 185	SF 110	2955	24	1
14	Belinda Bencic	R128 10	R64 70	R16 240	R32 130	R16 120	R16 120	R64 10	R32 65	W 900	R16 105	W 470	F 305	F 180	R32 60	R32 60	R16 55	2900	24	2

Doubles

Pairs with a gold rank number have qualified for WTA Finals in Singapore.
Pairs with their name on a  cyan  background are playing in Linz.

Rank	Athlete	Points											Total points	Tours	Titles
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Qualified for WTA Finals
1	Martina Hingis (SUI) Sania Mirza (IND)	W 2000	W 2000	W 1000	W 1000	W 1000	W 900	F 585	W 470	QF 430	SF 350	SF 350	10,085	15	8
2	Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) Lucie Šafářová (CZE)	W 2000	W 2000	W 900	W 470	QF 430	SF 390	QF 190	R32 10				6,390	8	4
3	Casey Dellacqua (AUS) Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ)	F 1300	F 1300	W 1000	F 585	QF 430	SF 390	R16 105	R32 1				5,111	8	1
4	Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) Elena Vesnina (RUS)	F 1300	SF 780	F 650	F 650	QF 430	QF 215	QF 190	SF 185	SF 185	R32 1		4,586	10	0
5	Tímea Babos (HUN) Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)	W 900	W 900	SF 780	SF 390	W 280	R16 240	QF 215	QF 190	SF 185	R32 130	R32 130	4,340	18	3
6	Caroline Garcia (FRA) Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)	F 585	W 470	QF 430	SF 350	SF 350	F 305	F 305	R16 240	R16 240	QF 215	QF 215	3,705	18	1
7	Chan Hao-ching (TPE) Chan Yung-jan (TPE)	W 900	F 650	QF 430	SF 350	F 305	W 280	W 280	QF 190	W 160	QF 100	QF 60	3,705	13	4
8	Raquel Kops-Jones (USA) Abigail Spears (USA)	SF 780	W 470	QF 430	F 305	W 280	R16 240	QF 190	SF 185	R16 120	SF 110	QF 100	3,210	19	2
9	Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP) Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP)	F 650	F 585	W 470	W 470	QF 190	R32 130	R32 130	R32 130	R16 120	R16 120	R16 105	3,100	13	2
10	Andrea Hlaváčková (CZE) Lucie Hradecká (CZE)	SF 780	SF 390	SF 350	F 305	R16 240	QF 215	F 180	R32 130	R32 130	R16 120	SF 110	3,060	17	0

Champions

Singles

Main article: 2015 WTA Finals – Singles

• TBD def. TBD

Doubles

Main article: 2015 WTA Finals – Doubles

• TBD / TBD def. TBD / TBD

See also

• 2015 WTA Elite Trophy
• 2015 ATP World Tour Finals

External links

• Official website