The 2025 WTA Tour season will come to a crescendo in Riyadh, with the top eight women this year going head-to-head in the WTA Finals between November 1 and 8, live on Sky Sports Tennis.
The singles and doubles competition at the WTA Finals is played in a round-robin format. Players and teams are drawn into two separate groups and the top two finishers from each group advance to the semi-finals.
The top finisher from each group will face the runner-up from the other. The semi-finals and final are then played in a standard knockout format.
Which players have qualified?
1. Aryna Sabalenka
2. Iga Swiatek (Poland)
3. Coco Gauff (USA)
4. Amanda Anisimova (USA)
5. Jessica Pegula (USA)
6. Madison Keys (USA)
7. Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan)
8. Jasmine Paolini (Italy)
How did each player qualify for the WTA Finals?
Sabalenka was the first to qualify for the finals, confirming her spot July 7 after defeating Laura Siegemund in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon.
Highlights of the US Open final between Aryna Sabalenka and Amanda Anisimova
The 27-year-old also comes into the tournament as the No 1 seed yet again, after winning more titles, matches and points than any other player.
Swiatek followed suit in August after making the final of the Cincinnati Open, and will be making her fifth consecutive appearance at the tournament that she won in 2023.
The pair were followed by a flurry of Americans, including Gauff, Anisimova, Pegula and Keys.
At just 21 years old, Gauff confirmed her fourth consecutive qualification for the tournament after her fourth-round win at the China Open.
Meanwhile Anisimova will make her tournament debut and Keys will return for the first time since 2016 after being the fourth and fifth players to qualify.
Following her best season yet, where she reached four tour finals and won the WTA 1000 Qatar TotalEnergies, Anisimova will be keen to make an impact in Riyadh.
Aryna Sabalenka smashes her rackets as Madison Keys takes the win in the Australian Open final to claim her first Grand Slam
Keys’ season acted more as a long-awaited redemption, as she lifted her first Grand Slam singles trophy at 30 years old after taking the win in Australia at the start of the year against Sabalenka.
Pegula completed the American lineup in October, marking the first time since 2003 that four Americans qualified for the tournament. That year saw Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Lindsay Davenport and Jennifer Capriati qualify, although only Capriati would go on to play.
Having placed second in 2023 at the tournament and winning titles on all three surfaces this year, Pegula will be determined to come home with some hardware this time.
After a spectacular season on tour for the Italian, Paolini was the seventh player to confirm her spot in Riyadh.
This is her second successive WTA Finals singles qualification, but the Italian will be busy as she has also qualified in the doubles top spot alongside Sara Errani.
Elena Rybakina comes from a set down to beat Ekaterina Alexandrova for victory at the Ningbo Open – her second title of 2025 and 52nd victory of the year
Taking the final spot is Rybakina of Kazakhstan, who soared into tournament contention after her Ningbo Open and teenage sensation Mirra Andreeva’s tearful Wuhan exit.
Rybakina has been a constant at the WTA Finals in recent years and has qualified for the fourth consecutive time this year.
Who is the defending champion?
In 2024, American Gauff narrowly grasped her maiden WTA Finals title in an incredible 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) against Olympic Champion Quinwen Zheng.
Highlights of Coco Gauff v Zheng Qinwen in the WTA Finals
Gauff fought back from just two points away from defeat to seal her victory in what was one of the matches of the year, also becoming the youngest player to win the WTA Finals.
In the final set Gauff clawed back first from 2-0 down, and then from 5-3 down before taking the deciding tie-breaker.
Her route to the final was not perfect, however. After taking a win against both Pegula and Swiatek, the American was knocked back by Krejcikova in the group stage. But, she went on to take yet another win against Sabalenka in the semi-finals, defeating the world number one on her way to making history.
WTA Finals groups
The event features eight players in a round-robin event, split into two groups of four.
Over the first six days of competition, each player meets the other three players in her group, with the top two in each group advancing to the semi-finals. The first-placed player in one group meets the second-placed player in the other group, and vice versa. The winners of each semi-final meet in the championship match.
Ranking position in brackets
Purple Group: TBC
Orange Group: TBC
Where are the 2025 WTA Finals?
Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh will host the WTA Finals for the top eight singles players and top eight doubles teams for the 2024, 2025 and 2026 tournaments.
The women’s professional tennis tour announced the three-year deal will see prize money for this November’s tournament raised to $15.25m (£12m), a 70-per-cent increase from 2023.
Previous hosts were Cancun (2023), Fort Worth (2022), Guadalajara (2021), Shenzhen (2019), Singapore (2014-2018), Istanbul (2011-2013), Doha (2008-2010), Madrid (2006-2007), Los Angeles (2002-2005, 1974-1976), Munich (2001), New York (1979-2000, 1977), Oakland (1978), Boca Raton (1972-1973).
WTA Finals schedule and order of play
TBC
