2014 WTA Finals

Tournament

The 2014 WTA Finals happened at the Singapore Indoor Stadium from 17 October to 26 October 2014, and is the 44th edition of the event. The tournament is run by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) as part of the 2014 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. The inaugural 2014 WTA Rising Stars Invitational will be held during the WTA Finals from October 17–21, 2014. Four singles players age 23 or under were chosen by fan vote from qualifying nominees, two from the Asia-Pacific region and two from the Rest of World region, will participate in Singapore: Zarina Diyas and Zheng Saisai, Asia-Pacific region; Mónica Puig and Shelby Rogers, Rest of World region.

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 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:

Prize money and points

The total prize money for the BNP Paribas 2014 WTA Finals was US$6,500,000.

Singles

On 5 September, Serena Williams became the first player to qualify for the Championships.

Following her 2013 season, Serena Williams won her 58th title in Brisbane, defeating the world no.2, Victoria Azarenka, in the final. She injured her back at the Australian Open and lost in the fourth round to Ana Ivanovic in three sets. She returned to competition in Dubai Tennis Championships but lost in the semifinals to Alizé Cornet. She successfully defended her Miami title, after defeating Li Na in the final. She lost in the second round of Charleston to Jana Čepelová and withdrew before her quarterfinals match in Madrid before defending her Rome title, defeating Sara Errani in the final. Coming as the defending champion of the French Open, she lost in the second round to Garbiñe Muguruza 2–6, 2–6, in her most lopsided loss in slam in her career.

Following her disappointing loss in Paris, Williams returned to Wimbledon as the top seed. She reached the third round before losing to Cornet in three sets. She appeared sick in her following doubles match. She made a return in Bank of the West Classic where she won the title by defeating Angelique Kerber in the final. The following week, she lost to sister Venus for the first time since 2009 in the semifinals of Rogers Cup. She won her 62nd title the following week in Cincinnati, beating Ivanovic in the final, this marks her third time winning the US Open Series. After her disappointing results in the Major tournaments this year, she made the final of the US Open, where she qualified for the WTA Finals. In the final, she defeated Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets, thus winning her 18th Major singles title, tying the records of Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova.

On 9 September, Maria Sharapova became the second player to qualify for the championships.

After prematurely ending her 2013 season due to an injury, Maria Sharapova began 2014 at the 2014 Brisbane International where she lost to top seed Serena Williams in the semifinals. Then, she travelled to Melbourne to play the Australian Open as the 3rd seed, she managed to reach the 4th round where she lost to Slovak and eventual finalist Dominika Cibulková. In February, Sharapova played the Paris indoors tournament as the top seed, she lost to fellow Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the semifinals. Sharapova kicked off her North American hardcourt season at Indian Wells as the defending champion. However, she was upset by Camila Giorgi in the third round in three sets. At the Sony Open Tennis, Sharapova lost to Serena in the semifinals again. During the clay court season, Sharapova enjoyed major success. She defended her title at Stuttgart defeating Ana Ivanovic in the final in a three-setter and won the Mutua Madrid Open, outplaying Simona Halep in three sets as well. She suffered her only loss on clay in 2014 at Rome when she fell to Ivanovic in the third round but she bounced back at the French Open by collecting her 5th Grand Slam title when she defeated Halep again in a match lasting over 3 hours, the second longest women's Grand Slam final in history. Sharapova suffered a fourth round loss at Wimbledon to Angelique Kerber. Sharapova began her 2014 US Open Series campaign at the Rogers Cup losing to Spaniard Carla Suárez Navarro in the third round. The following week at Western & Southern Open, she reached the semifinals before succumbing to Ivanovic again in three sets. At the US Open, Sharapova, seeded 5th, lost in the fourth round to Caroline Wozniacki. Sharapova won her first hard court title since Indian Wells 2013 at the China Open defeating Petra Kvitová in the final in three set.

On 15 September, Simona Halep was announced as the third qualifier for the Championships.

Simona Halep enjoyed a breakthrough in 2013 where she won her first six WTA titles. She kicked off the 2014 season at the 2014 Brisbane International, she fell to Madison Keys in round 1. At the 2014 Australian Open, she reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal but lost to Dominika Cibulková. She then won the biggest title of her career at the 2014 Qatar Total Open in Doha when she defeated Angelique Kerber in the final. She then reached the semifinals at Indian Wells, losing to Agnieszka Radwańska. She reached the final at the 2014 Mutua Madrid Open where she lost to Maria Sharapova in three sets. She bounced back at the 2014 French Open where she reached the final, her first grand slam final. She faced Sharapova and lost once again in tough three sets. At the 2014 Wimbledon Championships, she reached the semifinals, where she lost to Eugenie Bouchard in straight sets. Playing in front of her homecrowd, Halep was impressive when she defeated 2nd seed Roberta Vinci in the final of the inaugural BRD Bucharest Open. After reaching her career high ranking of number 2, she played the Western & Southern Open but once again lost to Sharapova in the quaretrfinals. At the 2014 US Open, Simona was one of the heavy favourites to make it to the final. She won her first two matches over Danielle Collins and Jana Čepelová but fell to a resurging Mirjana Lučić-Baroni in the third round.

On 27 September, Petra Kvitová was announced as the fourth qualifier after winning the inaugural Wuhan Open.

Petra Kvitová had a resurgence after a disappointing 2013 and early 2014. Kvitová experienced a huge upset against Luksika Kumkhum in round 1 at the Australian Open. During the American Hard Court Season, Kvitová lost to Dominika Cibulková, who was enjoying her career peak in the 4th round at the 2014 BNP Paribas Open. She then lost to Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals at Miami. In Madrid where she was the 2011 champion, Kvitová lost to Simona Halep in a tight 3 setter in the semifinals. At the French Open, Kvitová again lost in a tight 3 setter, this time against Svetlana Kuznetsova after having a chance to serve for the match in the second set. Kvitová then won her 2nd major title at the 2014 Wimbledon Championships, where she defeated Eugenie Bouchard in less than 1 hour, making it one of the most lopsided grand slam finals in history. After capturing her 2nd Grand Slam, Kvitová had disappointing results in both Montreal and Cincinnati, suffering early losses to Ekaterina Makarova in the third round and Elina Svitolina in the second round, respectively. She then followed up with a title in New Haven, but once again suffered an early loss at the US Open to Serbian youngster Aleksandra Krunić. Kvitová then won the inaugural Wuhan Open, defeating Eugenie Bouchard in the final again in straight sets. Kvitová followed in up with another final at the China Open, but this time end up losing to Sharapova in three sets.

On 2 October, the last four remaining spots were filled by Eugenie Bouchard, Agnieszka Radwańska, Ana Ivanovic and Caroline Wozniacki. All four players qualified after Angelique Kerber and Ekaterina Makarova exit in their respective third round matches at the China Open and Li Na's retirement from tennis.

Eugenie Bouchard made a breakthrough in 2014 entering the top 10 for the first time. At the first slam of the year at the Australian Open, she got to the second week for the first time and further reaching the semifinals losing to eventual champion Li Na, being the first Canadian since 1984 to reach the semifinals of a slam. She then won her first WTA title at the Nürnberger Versicherungscup defeating Karolína Plíšková in the final. She followed it up with her second slam semifinal at the French Open losing to eventual champion Maria Sharapova. At Wimbledon, Bouchard did even better reaching her first slam final defeating Simona Halep in the semifinals but losing to Petra Kvitová in less than an hour in one of the most lopsided slam finals in history. Bouchard loss back-to-back opening matches at the Rogers Cup and Western & Southern Open in three sets. She suffered her first loss in the year before the semifinals of a slam at the US Open at the fourth round to Ekaterina Makarova. At the Asian swing she reached her first Premier 5 final at the inaugural Wuhan Open, once again losing to Kvitová.

Agnieszka Radwańska didn't have the same success she had in 2012 and 2013, enduring a decline in form with inconsistent results. She failed to defend her title at the Sydney International losing in the second round to Bethanie Mattek-Sands. However, she reached her first Australian Open semifinal upsetting two-time defending champion, Victoria Azarenka in the Quarterfinals before losing to Dominika Cibulková. She then reached the semifinals of the Qatar Total Open losing to Simona Halep. The Pole then went on to reach her first Indian Wells final before losing to Flavia Pennetta who had defeated World No. 2 and reigning Australian Open Champion, Li Na. She returned to her home country to play at the BNP Paribas Katowice Open but lost in the semifinals to Alizé Cornet. She was also a semifinalist at the 2014 Mutua Madrid Open losing to eventual champion Maria Sharapova once again. She couldn't consolidate those strong showings at the 2014 French Open, losing in the third round to Ajla Tomljanovic. She also lost early at the 2014 Wimbledon Championships, bowing out to Ekaterina Makarova in the fourth round. She did however win her first title of the season at the 2014 Rogers Cup defeating Venus Williams in the final. At the last grand slam of the season the US Open, she lost in the second round to eventual semifinalist, Peng Shuai.

Ana Ivanovic had a resurgence in 2014, returning to the top 10 for the first time since 2009. She began the season with a title at the ASB Classic defeating Venus Williams, this is her first title in over 2 years. She followed it up with a quarterfinal showing at the Australian Open defeating world no. 1 Serena Williams before losing to Eugenie Bouchard. She then won her second title of the year at the Monterrey Open defeating compatriot Jovana Jakšić in the first all-Serbian final. She suffered her first loss in a final of the year at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix to two-time defending champion Maria Sharapova. At the French Open, she lost to Lucie Šafářová in the third round, marking her 5th consecutive loss to the Czech. She bounced back at the Aegon Classic defeating Czech Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová in straight set for her third title of the year. However, she made another early exit at a slam, losing in the third round of Wimbledon to Sabine Lisicki. She reached her biggest final since 2009 BNP Paribas Open, at the Western & Southern Open, beating Sharapova in semifinal, but losing to Serena Williams in straight sets In final. At the final slam the US Open, she suffered another early defeat to Karolína Plíšková. She won her fourth title of the year at the Toray Pan Pacific Open defeating Caroline Wozniacki in the final. This marks the most titles she has won in a single year. She also reached the semifinals of the China Open losing to Maria Sharapova.

Caroline Wozniacki had a strong resurgence after a disappointing first half of the season. Her best results from the first half were the semifinals at the Dubai Tennis Championships losing to Venus Williams, the quarterfinals at the Sony Open losing to Li Na and the semifinals at the Monterrey Open losing to Ana Ivanovic. After losing in the first round at the French Open to Yanina Wickmayer, Wozniacki reached the semifinals at the Aegon International losing to Angelique Kerber. She then lost in the fourth round at Wimbledon to Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová. She won her first title at the İstanbul Cup beating Roberta Vinci in the final. She followed that win with a quarterfinal appearance at the Rogers Cup and a semifinal appearance at the Western & Southern Open losing in both to Serena Williams. Then at the US Open she beat Maria Sharapova in the fourth round where she would eventually reach her second US Open final losing again to Serena Williams. She then reached the final at the Toray Pan Pacific Open losing to Ana Ivanovic. She also reached the semifinals at the Wuhan Open losing to Eugenie Bouchard.

The first alternate of the tour finals was Angelique Kerber. She reached four finals in the year, but lost in all of them. Her biggest final was at the Premier 5 event of the Qatar Total Open losing to Simona Halep in straight sets. She also reached three other Premier 470 events at the Apia International Sydney, Aegon International and Bank of the West Classic losing to Tsvetana Pironkova, Madison Keys and Serena Williams, respectively. She also reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon. The second alternate spot was taken by Ekaterina Makarova. This is the Russians first trip to the tour finals as a singles player, she made her first slam semifinals at the US Open losing to world no. 1 Serena Williams in straight sets. She also reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon. She won her lone title of the year at the PTT Pattaya Open defeating Karolína Plíšková in two tight sets.

Doubles

On 11 July, Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci were announced as the first team to qualify for the Championships.

Sara Errani & Roberta Vinci recaptured their form in 2014, reclaiming the world no. 1 ranking. They were able to reach three slams finals winning two of them, they were able to defend their Australian Open title defeating Russians Makarova & Vesnina and completed the career grand slam by winning Wimbledon over Babos& Mladenovic, thus becoming only the fifth pairing to complete the career grand slam. They also reached the final of the French Open for the third time in a row but fell to the Asian pairing of Hsieh & Peng. The Italian duo also captured three more titles, the Mutua Madrid Open over the local pairing of Muguruza & Suárez Navarro, and at the Rogers Cup and Porsche Tennis Grand Prix both over Black & Mirza. They also reached two other finals but lost, at the Apia International Sydney to Babos & Šafářová and at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia to Peschke & Srebotnik.

On 10 September, Hsieh Su-wei & Peng Shuai and Ekaterina Makarova & Elena Vesnina became the second and third team to qualify for the Championships.

Hsieh Su-wei & Peng Shuai, champions of the previous year, became the top team of the year both becoming number 1's in doubles. They claimed their first title of the year at the Qatar Total Open by defeating the pairing of Peschke & Srebotnik in straight sets. They followed it up with a title at the BNP Paribas Open over Black & Mirza. They won their final title of the year at the French Open defeating Errani & Vinci, their second slam title as a team and as individuals. Hsieh and Peng announced after the US Open that they are ending their partnership after 2014.

Ekaterina Makarova & Elena Vesnina became runners-up on their first Tour Championships in 2013. In the next season they reached three finals, the latest of which, the US Open, they won over Hingis & Pennetta; it was the pair's second Grand Slam title in their career. The Russians also reached the finals of the Australian Open losing to Errani & Vinci and the Miami Masters losing to Hingis & Lisicki.

On September 22, after winning the Toray Pan Pacific Open, the team of Zimbabwe's Cara Black and India's Sania Mirza was announced as the fourth qualifier.

Cara Black & Sania Mirza paired up at the last quarter of the 2013 season. The pairing reached six finals in the year, but only won two of them, the first being at the Portugal Open defeating Hrdinová & Solovyeva and the second one at the Toray Pan Pacific Open defeating Muguruza & Suárez Navarro. They lost at the BNP Paribas Open to Hsieh & Peng, Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and Rogers Cup to the Italian duo of Errani & Vinci, and the China Open to Hlaváčková & Peng. Mirza also reached two Mixed Doubles final, winning the US Open with Bruno Soares defeating Spears & González and losing the Australian Open with Horia Tecău to Mladenovic & Nestor

On 25 September, the American pair Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears qualified for the Championships.

Raquel Kops-Jones & Abigail Spears, partners since late 2011 had their best season, it began by reaching their first slam semifinal at the Australian Open. They also won two title in the year, their biggest title coming at the Western & Southern Open defeating Babos & Mladenovic. They also won the Aegon Classic, their first grass title defeating Australians Barty & Dellacqua. Spears also reached the final of the US Open Mixed Doubles with Santiago González losing to Mirza & Soares

On 2 October, Peschke and Srebotnik became the sixth team to be qualified.

Květa Peschke & Katarina Srebotnik who resumed their partnership are participating in the tour finals for the fifth time together. The pair reached two finals in the year and went one-to-one, winning the Internazionali BNL d'Italia defeating Italians Errani & Vinci and losing at the Qatar Total Open to the Asian pairing of Hsieh & Peng. Peschke also won the title at the Open GDF Suez with Anna-Lena Grönefeld defeating Babos & Mladenovic.

On 5 October, Garbiñe Muguruza & Carla Suárez Navarro became the seventh pair in the finals.

Garbiñe Muguruza & Carla Suárez Navarro are one of the youngest formed teams to be qualified for the Championships. They were able capture their first title as a team at the Bank of the West Classic defeating Kania & Siniakova. They also reached two other finals but lost, at the Mutua Madrid Open to Errani & Vinci and at the Toray Pan Pacific Open to Black & Mirza. They also reached the semifinals of the French Open. Mugurza also won another title at the Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem with Oprandi defeating Piter & Zanevska.

On October 12, after winning the Tianjin Open, Alla Kudryavtseva and Anastasia Rodionova claimed the final spot.

Alla Kudryavtseva & Anastasia Rodionova became a stable duo since September 2013. They won three titles out of four finals; although those were International or Premier tournaments, the pair also showed fine results in the major tournaments, including reaching the quarterfinals of Wimbledon, or the semifinals of the China Open. For both players, the 2014 season was one of their best in their tennis career.

Groupings

The 2014 edition of the year–end finals will feature four current or former World number ones, four Grand Slam champions and four Grand Slam finalists. The competitors were divided into two groups representing the colors of the flag of Singapore.

In the red group, their respective all-time head-to-head records in their group, no. 1 seed Serena Williams was 11–1, no. 4 seed Simona Halep was 3–5, no.5 seed Eugenie Bouchard was 3–2, and no. 7 seed Ana Ivanovic was 2–11. Williams has an almost perfect record in her group. She is 3-0 against Halep, with their last meeting being a straight sets victory for Williams at the 2013 Western & Southern Open. Against Bouchard, Williams is 1-0, winning their only match against each other in three sets at the 2013 Western & Southern Open. In her match-up with Ivanovic, Williams leads 7-1, with her only loss to the Serbian coming at the 2014 Australian Open. However, the American has won the last three matches, including the most recent at the 2014 Western & Southern Open. Halep and Bouchard split their two meetings against each other, both coming this year, with Bouchard winning their most recent match at the 2014 Wimbledon Championships. Halep leads her head to head with Ivanovic 2-1, including winning the last time they met at the 2014 Mutua Madrid Open. In the final match-up in the group, Bouchard leads Ivanovic 2-0, which includes their most recent meeting at the 2014 Australian Open.

In the white group, their respective all-time head-to-head records in their group, no. 2 seed Maria Sharapova was 21-7, no.3 seed Petra Kvitová was 11-11, no. 6 seed Agnieszka Radwańska was 7-21 and no. 8 seed Caroline Wozniacki was 13-13. Sharapova is 6-2 against Kvitová, winning the last five, including most recently at the 2014 China Open. Against Radwańska, Sharapova is 10-2, winning their last three meetings, the most recent being a straight sets victory at the 2014 Mutua Madrid Open. Sharapova also leads her head to head with Wozniacki 5-3, however Wozniacki won their last meeting in three sets at the 2014 US Open. Kvitová leads her match-up with Radwańska 5-1, with the Czech winning the last time the two played at the 2013 WTA Tour Championships. Kvitová and Wozniacki are tied in their head to head at 4-4, the Dane winning their last meeting at the 2013 Western & Southern Open. In the final head to head, Wozniacki leads Radwańska 6-4, including a straight sets victory in only encounter this year at the 2014 Western & Southern Open.

Player head-to-head

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

Day-by-day summaries

2014 WTA Finals – Day-by-day summaries

Singles

Players with a gold background have enough points to qualify, and players with a blue background can play as alternates (if qualified players withdrew or retired from the Championships). A brown background means a player retired from professional tennis.

Doubles

Teams with a gold background have enough points to qualify.

Tournament

Singles

Doubles

Exhibition

Rising Stars

Legends