2025 WTA Finals

The 2025 WTA Finals is a year-end championship tennis tournament held by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) for the eight best singles players and eight best doubles teams of the 2025 WTA Tour. The tournament is scheduled to take place from November 1 to November 8, 2025, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the second consecutive year. It marks the 54th edition of the singles event and the 49th edition of the doubles competition.

Venue

The 2025 WTA Finals is hosted at the King Saud University Indoor Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The event is played on an indoor hard court surface. This is the second year in a row that Riyadh has hosted the prestigious season-ending tournament.

Qualification

The eight singles players and eight doubles teams that qualify for the WTA Finals are determined by the “PIF WTA Race to the Finals,” a season-long points race. Players earn points at all WTA-sanctioned tournaments, including the four Grand Slams.

Singles Qualification Criteria:

• The top seven singles players on the leaderboard at the conclusion of the regular WTA season automatically qualify.
• The eighth spot is awarded to the highest-ranked current-year Grand Slam winner who is ranked between 8th and 20th in the standings. If no player meets this criterion, the eighth-ranked player in the race qualifies.

The points for a player’s race ranking are calculated from their results in 18 tournaments, including:

• The four Grand Slam events.
• The best six results from the seven combined WTA 1000 tournaments (Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Rome, Toronto/Montreal, Cincinnati, and Beijing).
• The best result from the three non-combined WTA 1000 tournaments (Doha, Dubai, and Wuhan).
• The best seven results from all other non-WTA 125 tournaments.

Doubles Qualification Criteria:

• Similar to singles, the top seven doubles teams on the leaderboard automatically qualify.
• The eighth spot is awarded to the highest-ranked current-year Grand Slam winning team ranked from 8th to 20th. If no team meets this criterion, the eighth-ranked team in the race qualifies.

For doubles, the point totals are based on the team’s 12 best results from any of the non-WTA 125 WTA tournaments and Grand Slams throughout the season.

Tournament Format

Both the singles and doubles events follow a round-robin format, with the eight players/teams divided into two groups of four. Over the first six days of the tournament, each player/team competes against the other three in their respective group. The top two players/teams from each group advance to the knockout stage, which consists of the semifinals and the final.

• In the semifinals, the first-placed player/team from one group plays against the second-placed player/team from the other group.
• The winners of the two semifinals then face off in the championship match to determine the 2025 WTA Finals champion.

Tie-breaking methods for the round-robin groups are as follows:

1. Greatest number of match wins.
2. Greatest number of matches played.
3. Head-to-head result if only two players/teams are tied.
4. If three players/teams are tied:
   • If one player has played fewer than all three matches, they are automatically eliminated. The remaining two players’ head-to-head result determines who advances.
   • If all three players have completed their matches, the tie is broken by the highest percentage of sets won, followed by the highest percentage of games won.

Qualified Players

As of early October 2025, a number of players and teams have officially secured their spots in the WTA Finals.

Singles:

• Aryna Sabalenka: Secured her spot early in the season, solidifying her place as the world No. 1 and a top contender after a strong year, including a US Open title.
• Iga Świątek: Qualified after a consistent and dominant season, which included her victory at Wimbledon.
• Coco Gauff: The defending champion from 2024, Gauff secured her return to Riyadh, aiming to be the first player since Serena Williams to defend the title.
• Amanda Anisimova: Making her WTA Finals debut, Anisimova qualified after a career-best season that saw her reach two Grand Slam finals (Wimbledon and US Open).
• Madison Keys: The 2025 Australian Open champion, Keys returns to the WTA Finals for the first time since 2016. Her strong early-season performance, despite a mid-season injury, was enough to secure her spot.

Doubles:

• Kateřina Siniaková / Taylor Townsend: The first doubles team to qualify, cementing their position as one of the top pairs of the year.
• Sara Errani / Jasmine Paolini: Qualified in September, capping off a successful partnership that saw them win a number of titles.
• Gabriela Dabrowski / Erin Routliffe: The 2024 WTA Finals champions secured their spot to defend their title.
• Veronika Kudermetova / Elise Mertens: The duo qualified after a solid season on the tour.
• Mirra Andreeva / Diana Shnaider: The young Russian pair will make their WTA Finals debut after winning their first career titles together, including a WTA 1000 event in Miami.

Prize Money

The total prize money for the 2025 WTA Finals is a record-breaking $15.5 million, a significant increase from previous years. The prize money is distributed based on performance, with an undefeated singles champion standing to earn over $5 million, and an undefeated doubles team earning over $950,000. The prize money breakdown is structured to reward success at every stage of the tournament, from participation to winning the title.

Past Champions

The WTA Finals has a rich history of legendary champions. The list of past winners includes some of the greatest names in women’s tennis, highlighting the tournament’s importance as a pinnacle of the tennis season.

Singles:

• Martina Navratilova: The most successful player in the tournament’s history with eight singles titles.
• Steffi Graf and Serena Williams: Tied for second with five titles each.
• Chris Evert: The inaugural winner and a four-time champion.
• Monica Seles and Kim Clijsters: Both three-time champions.
• Coco Gauff: The defending singles champion from the 2024 event in Riyadh.

Doubles:

• Martina Navratilova: Holds the record for most doubles titles with 13.
• Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe: The defending champions from 2024.

The WTA Finals continues to be a showcase of the best talent in women’s tennis, providing a fitting conclusion to the season and a platform for the sport’s biggest stars to compete for one of its most prestigious titles.