WTA Tour Championships
The WTA Tour Championships ( officially TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships, formerly Sony Ericsson Championships, the WTA Tour Championships ) are the season ending tournament in women's tennis.
Mode
Participation is open to the top eight players of the year ( the points from all 60 events of the current year added up) and the four best pairs in the doubles. In a single preliminary round is played with two groups of four teams in a round -robin ( all against all ). The top two from each group advance to the semifinals, the winners will contest the final. In doubles, one starts with two equal semi-finals, whose winners will play the final.
From 1984 to 1998, played in the final of three wins, which has remained an exception in women's tennis to this day.
History
The first WTA Tour Championships were held in March 1972. As the WTA had decided in 1986 to limit the tour operation to the months from January to November, the WTA Championships have been postponed to the last possible date of the year. Therefore, two sweeps were held exceptionally in 1986.
Venues
Bidding process 2014-2018
The venue for the years 2014-2018 was again sought in a bidding process. 43 cities had in 2012 applied for the discharge. In a preliminary decision, four places translated by:
- Kazan, Russia
- Mexico City, Mexico
- Singapore
- Tianjin, China
In January 2013 it was announced that Kazan and Mexico City had retired and had been added as a third candidate Monterrey. Thus, the following three cities were the last selection:
- Mexico Monterrey
- Singapore Singapore
- People's Republic of China Tianjin
These cities were visited by the WTA. It started Tianjin in March 2013. March 8, 2013, the WTA announced that Singapore is the host from 2014 to 2018. In addition to the eight best tennis players are now also the best eight (previously four) take double pairings in the tournament.
Record winners
- Martina Navratilova: 8 wins ( in 14 finals )
- Steffi Graf: 5 wins (with 6 finals )
- Chris Evert: 4 wins (at 8 finals )
- Serena Williams: 4 wins (at 6 finals )
- Monica Seles: 3 wins ( at 4 finals )
- Kim Clijsters: 3 wins ( with 3 runners-up )