The 2016 WTA Finals was a women's tennis tournament at Kallang, Singapore. It was the 46th edition of the singles event and the 41st edition of the doubles competition. The tournament was contested by eight singles players and eight doubles teams. The tournament was contested by eight singles players and eight doubles teams. The tournament was the year-end final of the 2016 WTA Tour.
Finals
Singles
Dominika Cibulková defeated Angelique Kerber, 6–3, 6–4
Doubles
Ekaterina Makarova / Elena Vesnina defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands / Lucie Šafářová, 7–6(7–5), 6–3
Tournament
The 2016 WTA Finals took place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium the week of October 24, 2016, and was the 46th edition of the event. The tournament was run by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) as part of the 2016 WTA Tour. Singapore was 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 also held an exhibition tournament: the WTA Future Stars Under-14 and Under-16 tournaments.
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. The doubles event returns to a single elimination event. The winners of each quarterfinal match will advance to the semifinals and the winners of each semifinal match will advance to the final.
Round robin tie-breaking methods The final standings of each group were determined by the first of the following methods that applied: Greatest number of wins. Greatest number of matches played. 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 2016 WTA Finals was US$7,000,000.
SinglesStagePrize moneyPointsChampion RR1 + $1,750,000 RR + 750Runner-up RR + $590,000 RR + 330 Semifinalist RR + $40,000 RR Round robin win per match +$153,000 +250 Round robin loss per match +125Participation Fee3 matches = $151,0002 matches = $130,0001 match = $110,000 Alternates2 matches = $109,0001 match = $89,0000 matches = $68,000
DoublesStagePrize moneyPointsChampions $500,000 1500Runners-up $260,000 1080Semifinalists $157,500 750Quarterfinalists $81,250 375
Qualifying In singles, WTA rankings 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.
Qualified players
Singles #PlayersPointsTournDate Qualified1 8,000 20 22 Augustinj 7,050 7 22 August2 4,975 19 4 October3 4,728 17 29 September4 4,100 21 4 October5 3,736 19 14 October6 3,637 15 16 October7 3,625 21 16 October8 3,490 20 22 October
On 22 August, Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber became the first two qualifiers.Serena & Kerber Qualify for Singapore
Angelique Kerber started her season in Brisbane, where she lost to Victoria Azarenka in the final. At the Australian Open, Kerber was down match point to Misaki Doi in the first round but came back to win the match. Having previously never been past the fourth round in Melbourne, Kerber cruised past her next three opponents before avenging her Brisbane loss to Azarenka in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Kerber beat surprise semifinalist Johanna Konta in straight sets to reach her first ever Grand Slam final. In the final she stunned Serena Williams to win her maiden Grand Slam title.
Kerber struggled for consistency after this triumph; she endured a three-match losing streak, but seemed to turn things around by reaching the semifinals at Miami and defending her title in Stuttgart. However, after this she again lost three straight matches, culminating in a disappointing loss to Kiki Bertens in the first round of the French Open. However, Kerber rediscovered her form on the grass by reaching the Wimbledon final without dropping a set, beating Simona Halep and Venus Williams along the way. There she lost in straight sets to Williams.
Kerber had a successful summer hard-court swing which saw her reach the semifinals at Montreal, win a silver medal at the Olympics, and reach the final at Cincinnati. At the US Open, despite facing pressure to overtake Williams for the #1 player in the world, Kerber reached the semifinals without dropping a set. When Karolína Plíšková beat Williams in the semifinals, Kerber was guaranteed to become the World No. 1 after the tournament. She consolidated her new position by beating Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals and Plíšková in a three-set final.
Kerber suffered inconsistent results throughout the Asian swing as she tried to adjust to the pressure of being the No. 1 player in the world, however, she heads into Singapore after the best year in her career by far.
Serena Williams started her year by reaching the finals of the Australian Open. After handily defeating Maria Sharapova and Agnieszka Radwańska to reach the final, Williams was the heavy favorite to defeat first-time finalist Angelique Kerber, but the German produced an inspired performance to deny Williams her record-tying 22nd Grand Slam title. After taking some time off, Williams returned at Indian Wells, where she lost in the final to Victoria Azarenka. This was the first time since 2004 that Williams had lost two consecutive finals. In Miami, Williams crashed out in the fourth round to Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Williams won the title in Rome, defeating Madison Keys in the final. She reached her second consecutive Grand Slam final at the French Open, but lost in straight sets to Garbiñe Muguruza. Williams rebounded by winning Wimbledon and avenging her defeat to Kerber in the final. This was her 22nd Grand Slam singles title and tied her with Steffi Graf for the most in the Open Era.
After a shoulder injury forced her out of Montreal, Williams slumped to a straight-sets defeat at the hands of Elina Svitolina at the Olympics. At the US Open, Williams lost to Karolína Plíšková, guaranteeing that she would relinquish the #1 ranking to Kerber. Williams withdrew from Wuhan and Beijing due to her shoulder injury, and on 17 October she announced that this same injury would rule her out of the WTA Finals.
On 29 September, Simona Halep became the third qualifier.Halep clinches Singapore spot, Qualifies for third straight WTA Finals
Simona Halep started her 2016 season in poor form. She was upset in the semifinals of Sydney by Svetlana Kuznetsova and then lost in the first round of the Australian Open to Zhang Shuai, who had never before won a Grand Slam main draw match and was planning to retire after the tournament.
Halep attributed her struggles to trouble breathing, and she announced a one-month hiatus to undergo surgery on her nose. However, without announcement Halep chose to play Fed Cup for Romania (winning one of two matches), and entered in Dubai and Doha (losing her first match at both events). After a hitting session with Steffi Graf in Las Vegas, Halep found her game again and reached the quarterfinals at Indian Wells and Miami. Then she cruised to the title in Madrid, beating Dominika Cibulková in the final. At the French Open, Halep was surprised in the fourth round by Samantha Stosur.
Despite having no tournament preparation for Wimbledon, Halep reached the quarterfinals, where she lost to Angelique Kerber in straight sets. Halep then won 13 matches in a row, picking up titles at Bucharest and Montreal and reaching the semifinals at Cincinnati. Halep reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open, where she lost to Serena Williams in three sets. Halep reached the semifinals of Wuhan, falling to Petra Kvitová, and she again lost to Zhang in the third round of Beijing.
On 4 October, both Agnieszka Radwańska and Karolína Plíšková became the fourth and fifth qualifiers respectively.Champion Radwanska confirms Singapore return, joined by debtuant Plíšková
Agnieszka Radwańska continued her scintillating form from the end of 2015 by winning the title in Shenzhen and reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open. She followed this up with semifinals at Doha and Indian Wells. After this however, her form started to dip. Radwańska was upset by Timea Bacsinszky in Miami and Laura Siegemund in Stuttgart. Radwańska lost a tough three-setter in the first round of Madrid to Dominika Cibulková. Radwańska suffered a fourth round lost to Tsvetana Pironkova in the French Open in a match, that took 3 days to complete.
Radwańska had a surprisingly lackluster grass-court season. She lost to Coco Vandeweghe in the first round of Birmingham, and then lost to Cibulková in the quarterfinals of Eastbourne and the fourth round of Wimbledon in a thrilling 3 setter 9–7 in the third. After being upset by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in Montreal, Radwańska crashed out to China's Zheng Saisai in the first round of the Olympics. Radwańska rebounded by reaching the quarterfinals of Cincinnati and winning the title at New Haven. However, she was upset in the fourth round of the U.S. Open by Ana Konjuh.
Radwańska rediscovered her best tennis for the Asian swing, however, as she reached the semifinals of Tokyo, losing a thrilling three-set match to Caroline Wozniacki. She also reached the quarterfinals of Wuhan and won Beijing, beating Johanna Konta in the final.
Karolína Plíšková began the year with underwhelming results, losing in the third round of the Australian Open and in the first round of both Doha and Dubai. After some time off, she rebounded by reaching the semifinals of Indian Wells, where she lost to Victoria Azarenka in three sets. After suffering early losses in Madrid and Rome, Plíšková lost in the first round of the French Open to Shelby Rogers.
Plíšková began to find her form on the grass, winning the title in Nottingham and losing to Dominika Cibulková in the final of Eastbourne. However, she suffered yet another early upset at Wimbledon, losing to Misaki Doi in the second round. After reaching the third round of Montreal, Plíšková chose to skip the Olympics. This decision paid off as she went on to win Cincinnati, beating Garbiñe Muguruza in the semifinals and Angelique Kerber in the final for the loss of four games each. She then finally had a Grand Slam breakthrough at the U.S. Open. After saving a match point to beat Venus Williams in the fourth round, she shocked Serena Williams in straight sets in the semifinals to ensure that Angelique Kerber would become the new World No. 1 after the event. Plíšková lost the final to Kerber in three sets.