2019 WTA Finals

2019 WTA Finals
Date	27 October – 3 November
Edition	49th (singles) / 44th (doubles)
Draw	8S / 8D
Prize money	$14,000,000
Surface	Shenzhen Bay Sports Centre
Champions
Singles
Ashleigh Barty
Doubles
Tímea Babos / Kristina Mladenovic
← 2018 · WTA Finals · 2021 →

The 2019 WTA Finals, also known by its sponsored name Shiseido WTA Finals Shenzhen, was a women's tennis tournament held in Shenzhen, China. It was the 49th edition of the singles event and the 44th edition of the doubles competition.^[1] The tournament was contested by eight singles players and eight doubles teams.^[2] This was the first time Shenzhen held the WTA Finals.

Champions

Singles

• Ashleigh Barty def. Elina Svitolina 6–4, 6–3

Doubles

• Tímea Babos / Kristina Mladenovic def. Hsieh Su-wei / Barbora Strýcová, 6–1, 6–3

Tournament

The 2019 WTA Finals took place at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center the week of October 28, 2019, and is the 49th edition of the event. This was the first time Shenzhen hosted the event.^[3] The tournament is run by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) as part of the 2019 WTA Tour. Shenzhen is the tenth city to host the WTA Finals since the tournament's inauguration in 1972.

Qualifying

In the 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 (for the top 20 players at the end of 2018) the best results from two Premier 5 tournaments must be included.
In the doubles, point totals are calculated by any combination of eleven tournaments throughout the year. Unlike in the singles, this combination does not need to include results from the Grand-Slam or Premier-level tournaments.

Format

Both the singles and doubles event features eight players/teams in a round robin event, split into two groups of four. Over the first four days of competition, each player/team meets the other three players/teams in her group, with the top two in each group advancing to the semifinals. The first-placed player/team in one group meets the second-placed player/team in the other group, and vice versa. The winners of each semifinal meet in the championship match. The doubles event returns to the round robin format for the first time since 2015.

Round robin tie-breaking methods

The final standings are made using these methods:

1. Greatest number of [match] 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:

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 WTA Finals 2019 is US$14,000,000. The tables below are based on the updated draw sheet information.

Qualified players

Singles

#	Players	Points	Tourn	Date Qualified
1	Ashleigh Barty	6,476	14	9 September
2	Karolína Plíšková	5,315	18	15 September
3	Naomi Osaka	5,246	16	4 October
4	Simona Halep	4,962	16	2 October
5	Bianca Andreescu	4,942	12	2 October
6	Petra Kvitová	4,401	16	7 October
7	Belinda Bencic	4,120	24	19 October
8	Elina Svitolina	3,995	21	14 October

On 9 September, Ashleigh Barty became the first qualifier.^[4]

Ashleigh Barty began the year at the Hopman Cup where she teamed up with Matthew Ebden but ended up second in their group thus failing to reach the final. She then competed at the Sydney International, where she reached the final but lost to Petra Kvitová in a third set tiebreak. She then reached the quarterfinals of a slam for the first time at the Australian Open but lost again to Kvitová in straight sets. She then represented Australia in Fed Cup where they faced United States in the quarterfinals where they won with Barty winning both her matches. At the Sunshine Double, she reached the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open but lost to Elina Svitolina in three sets. She, however, bounced back by winning her first Premier Mandatory event at the Miami Open defeating Karolína Plíšková in the final in two tight sets. She then continued her good form by giving Australia two wins in the semifinals of the Fed Cup against Belarus. At the clay season, she reached the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open but lost to Simona Halep in two tight sets. At the Italian Open, she suffered a shock loss to Kristina Mladenovic in the third round in two quick sets. Despite the average results during the clay season, Barty was able to capture her first slam title at the French Open, in a battle of maiden grand slam finalists, when she defeated Markéta Vondroušová in the final.

The grass-court season she began with her third title of the year at the

On 15 September, Karolína Plíšková took the second spot.^[5]

Karolína Plíšková began the year by winning the

She began her grass season at the Birmingham Classic but lost to sister Kristýna in the second round in a third set tiebreak. She bounced back with a title at the Eastbourne International without dropping more than four games in a set the entire tournament. At the Wimbledon Championships, she was upset by compatriot Karolína Muchová in the fourth round despite serving for the match twice but finally lost a game away from a match tiebreak. At the US Open Series, she reached the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup and the Western & Southern Open losing to Bianca Andreescu and Svetlana Kuznetsova, respectively. She had another poor slam run at the US Open, when she lost to Johanna Konta in the fourth round despite leading their head-to-head 6-1 prior to the match. She then claimed her fourth title of the year at the Zhengzhou Open defeating Martić in the final. However, the rest of her Asian swing was poor, losing back-to-back in the third round of the Wuhan Open to Yastremska and at the China Open to Jeļena Ostapenko in the first round.

On 2 October, Simona Halep and Bianca Andreescu qualified for the event.^[6]

Simona Halep began the year without a full-term coach, losing her opening match of the year at the

Bianca Andreescu began her year at the

Andreescu had a breakout tournament at the BNP Paribas Open Premier Mandatory event, when she won in three tight sets over Angelique Kerber for her first WTA tour title. At the Miami Open, she retired in the fourth round against Anett Kontaveit. She then missed the clay season preparation due to a right shoulder injury. At the French Open, she withdrew before the second-round match against Sofia Kenin. Subsequently, she missed grass-court season to spend more time healing the shoulder injury. Andreescu returned to play in her home tournament, the Rogers Cup in Toronto, where she claimed the title after Serena Williams experienced back spasms and was forced to retire down 1–3 in the first set. At the US Open, she faced Serena again in the final and came through in two tight sets. At the China Open her 17-match winning streak was broken by Osaka, losing to the Japanese in the quarterfinals in three sets.

On 4 October, Naomi Osaka booked her spot to the WTA Finals.^[7]

Naomi Osaka began her 2019 season reaching the semifinals at Brisbane, where she lost to Lesia Tsurenko. However, she was able to showcase her best at the Australian Open, where she lifted her second consecutive Grand Slam title after beating Petra Kvitová in a thrilling three-set contest, thus ascending for the first time in her career to the world No. 1. Shortly after, she parted ways with her coach, Sascha Bajin. Osaka then went to the Dubai Tennis Championships, where she lost in the second round to Kristina Mladenovic. She returned to the competition at the BNP Paribas Open, where she entered the tournament as the first seed and defending champion, but ended up losing to Belinda Bencic in the fourth round. Moreover, she went on to lose in the third round at the Miami Open to Hsieh Su-wei in three hard-fought sets.

Osaka began the clay-court season at Stuttgart, where she reached the semifinals before withdrawing from her match against Anett Kontaveit due to an abdominal injury. She then took part in the Madrid Open and Italian Open, where she reached the quarterfinals in both (losing to Bencic and withdrawing against Bertens respectively). Osaka went on to finish the clay-court swing with a shocking third-round loss to Kateřina Siniaková at the French Open, which ended her 16-win streak at Grand Slam tournaments.

Osaka entered the Birmingham Classic as the first seed but she lost in the second round to

On 7 October, Petra Kvitová was announced to be the sixth qualifier.^[8]

Petra Kvitová began the year at the Brisbane International, where she lost in the second round to Kontaveit. She then bounced back after claiming the title at the Sydney International defeating Barty in the final. At the Australian Open, she reached her first slam final since Wimbledon 2014 but lost to Osaka, losing her first slam final. The following week, she competed at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy and lost in the quarterfinals to Donna Vekić. She reached her third final of the year at the Dubai Tennis Championships but lost to Bencic in three sets. Her Sunshine Double was not successful, losing in the second round to Venus Williams in the second round of the Indian Wells Masters and the quarterfinals of the Miami Open to Barty. She began her clay season at the Stuttgart Open and claimed the title when she defeated Estonia's Kontaveit.

She was the defending champion at the Madrid Open and made the last eight where she lost to eventual champion Bertens, in a rematch of last year's final, in straight sets. At the Italian Open, her first appearance there since 2016, Kvitová made the third round where she faced Sakkari but retired with an injured calf while trailing in the decider. She then pulled out of the French Open with an arm injury, bringing her clay court swing to a premature close. Returning to competition at

On 14 October, defending champion Elina Svitolina was announced to be the seventh qualifier.^[9]

Elina Svitolina opened the season with an unsuccessful title defense at the Brisbane International, where she lost her first match to the previous year's finalist,

Svitolina's North American hard-court season began at the Silicon Valley Classic, where as the top seed, she fell to Maria Sakkari in the quarterfinals. She would then fall to Sofia Kenin in both the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup and the Round of 16 at the Western & Southern Open. At the US Open, she reached her second successive Grand Slam semifinal, where she was defeated in straight sets by Serena Williams. In the Asian swing, Svitolina reached the quarterfinal in the Zhengzhou Open, losing to Kristina Mladenovic, the second round in the Guangzhou Open, retiring to Marie Bouzková, the quarterfinal in the Wuhan Open losing to eventual runner-up Alison Riske, and lost to Kiki Bertens in the China Open quarterfinals. Finally, she lost to Veronika Kudermetova in the second round of the Kremlin Cup.

On 19 October, Belinda Bencic was announced as the final qualifier after reaching the final in Moscow.^[10]

Belinda Bencic began her year at the Hopman Cup, where she represented Switzerland with Roger Federer, they won the title defeating Germany in the final. She reached the semifinals at the Hobart International to Anna Karolína Schmiedlová and made it to the third round at the Australian Open, losing to eventual finalist Petra Kvitová. At the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy, she lost to Veronika Kudermetova in the second qualifying round. In the Fed Cup she won both of her matches, helping Switzerland to a 3-1 win over Italy. She had a breakthrough at the Dubai Tennis Championships defeating Kvitová in three sets in the final. Bencic continued her win streak with a semifinal appearance at the BNP Paribas Open losing to Angelique Kerber. However, at the Miami Open, she lost in the opening round to Yulia Putintseva.

At the

in three sets.

Groupings

Singles

The 2019 edition of the year–end finals will feature four world-No.-ones, five major champions and one major finalist. The competitors were divided into two groups.

Red group: Ashleigh Barty, Naomi Osaka, Petra Kvitová & Belinda Bencic

Purple group: Karolína Plíšková, Simona Halep, Bianca Andreescu & Elina Svitolina

Day-by-day summaries

Day 1 (27 October)

Matches
Event	Group	Winner	Loser	Score
Day Session
Singles round robin	Red Group	Naomi Osaka [3]	Petra Kvitová [6]	7–6(7–1), 4–6, 6–4
Singles round robin	Red Group	Ashleigh Barty [1]	Belinda Bencic [7]	5–7, 6–1, 6–2
Evening Session
Doubles round robin	Purple Group	Barbora Strýcová Hsieh Su-wei [2]	Zhang Shuai [7]	6–4, 4–6, [10–5]
Doubles round robin	Purple Group	Barbora Krejčíková Kateřina Siniaková [6]	Gabriela Dabrowski Xu Yifan [4]	6–4, 6–2

Day 2 (28 October)

Matches
Event	Group	Winner	Loser	Score
Day Session
Doubles round robin	Red Group	Tímea Babos Kristina Mladenovic [3]	Chan Hao-ching Latisha Chan [5]	6–2, 5–7, [10–6]
Singles round robin	Purple Group	Elina Svitolina [8]	Karolína Plíšková [2]	7–6(14–12), 6–4
Evening Session
Singles round robin	Purple Group	Simona Halep [5]	Bianca Andreescu [4]	3–6, 7–6(8–6), 6–3
Doubles round robin	Red Group	Anna-Lena Grönefeld Demi Schuurs [8]	Elise Mertens Aryna Sabalenka [1]	7–5, 1–6, [10–7]

Day 3 (29 October)

Matches
Event	Group	Winner	Loser	Score
Day Session
Doubles round robin	Purple Group	Zhang Shuai [7]	Gabriela Dabrowski Xu Yifan [4]	4–6, 6–4, [10–5]
Singles round robin	Red Group	Kiki Bertens [9]	Ashleigh Barty [1]	3–6, 6–3, 6–4
Evening Session
Singles round robin	Red Group	Belinda Bencic [7]	Petra Kvitová [6]	6–3, 1–6, 6–4
Doubles round robin	Purple Group	Barbora Strýcová Hsieh Su-wei [2]	Barbora Krejčíková Kateřina Siniaková [6]	6–2, 1–6, [10–5]

Day 4 (30 October)

Matches
Event	Group	Winner	Loser	Score
Day Session
Doubles round robin	Red Group	Elise Mertens Aryna Sabalenka [1]	Chan Hao-ching Latisha Chan [5]	7–6(7–5), 6–4
Singles round robin	Purple Group	Elina Svitolina [8]	Simona Halep [5]	7–5, 6–3
Evening Session
Singles round robin	Purple Group	Karolína Plíšková [2]	Bianca Andreescu [4]	6–3, ret.
Doubles round robin	Red Group	Tímea Babos Kristina Mladenovic [3]	Anna-Lena Grönefeld Demi Schuurs [8]	7–5, 6–2

Day 5 (31 October)

Matches
Event	Group	Winner	Loser	Score
Day Session
Doubles round robin	Purple Group	Zhang Shuai [7]	Barbora Krejčíková Kateřina Siniaková [6]	6–3, 7–6(9–7)
Singles round robin	Red Group	Ashleigh Barty [1]	Petra Kvitová [6]	6–4, 6–2
Evening Session
Singles round robin	Red Group	Belinda Bencic [7]	Kiki Bertens [9]	7–5, 1–0 ret.
Doubles round robin	Purple Group	Gabriela Dabrowski Xu Yifan [4]	Barbora Strýcová Hsieh Su-wei [2]	2–6, 6–4, [11–9]

Day 6 (1 November)

Matches
Event	Group	Winner	Loser	Score
Day Session
Doubles round robin	Red Group	Tímea Babos Kristina Mladenovic [3]	Elise Mertens Aryna Sabalenka [1]	4–6, 6–2, [10–5]
Singles round robin	Purple Group	Elina Svitolina [8]	Sofia Kenin [10]	7–5, 7–6(12–10)
Evening Session
Singles round robin	Purple Group	Karolína Plíšková [2]	Simona Halep [5]	6–0, 2–6, 6–4
Doubles round robin	Red Group	Anna-Lena Grönefeld Demi Schuurs [8]	Chan Hao-ching Latisha Chan [5]	6–2, 6–4

Day 7 (2 November)

Matches
Event	Winner	Loser	Score
Day Session
Doubles Semifinals	Tímea Babos Kristina Mladenovic [3]	Zhang Shuai [7]	1–6, 6–4, [10–6]
Singles Semifinals	Elina Svitolina [8]	Belinda Bencic [7]	5–7, 6–3, 4–1 ret.
Evening Session
Singles Semifinals	Ashleigh Barty [1]	Karolína Plíšková [2]	4–6, 6–2, 6–3
Doubles Semifinals	Barbora Strýcová Hsieh Su-wei [2]	Anna-Lena Grönefeld Demi Schuurs [8]	6–1, 6–2

Day 8 (3 November)

Matches
Event	Winner	Loser	Score
Doubles Final	Tímea Babos Kristina Mladenovic [3]	Barbora Strýcová Hsieh Su-wei [2]	6–1, 6–3
Singles Final	Ashleigh Barty [1]	Elina Svitolina [8]	6–4, 6–3

Porsche Race to Shenzhen

• Charts sourced from WTA[11]

Singles

• Players in gold qualified for the WTA Finals.
• Players in brown withdrew from consideration of competing as alternates.

Rank	Athlete	Grand Slam tournament				Premier Mandatory				Best two Premier 5		Best other						Total points	Tourn	WTA Titles
		AUS	FRA	WIM	USO	INW	MIA	MAD	CHI	1	2	1	2	3	4	5	6
1	Ashleigh Barty	QF 430	W 2000	R16 240	R16 240	R16 120	W 1000	QF 215	F 650	SF 350	SF 350	W 470	F 305	R16 105	R32 1			6,476	14	3
2	Karolína Plíšková	SF 780	R32 130	R16 240	R16 240	QF 215	F 650	R32 65	R64 10	W 900	QF 190	W 470	W 470	W 470	QF 190	QF 190	R16 105	5,315	18	4
3	Naomi Osaka	W 2000	R32 130	R128 10	R16 240	R16 120	R32 65	QF 215	W 1000	QF 190	QF 190	W 470	QF 190	SF 185	SF 185	R16 55	R32 1	5,246	16	3
4	Simona Halep	R16 240	QF 430	W 2000	R64 70	R16 120	SF 390	F 650	R32 65	QF 190	QF 190	F 305	R16 105	R16 105	QF 100	R32 1	R16 1	4,962	16	1
5	Bianca Andreescu	R64 110	R64 70	A 0	W 2000	W 1000	R16 120	A 0	QF 215	W 900		F 198	W 160	SF 110	W 50	QF 9		4,942	12	3
6	Petra Kvitová	F 1300	A 0	R16 240	R64 70	R64 10	QF 215	QF 215	QF 215	F 585	SF 350	W 470	W 470	R16 105	QF 100	R16 55	R32 1	4,401	16	2
7	Belinda Bencic	R32 130	R32 130	R32 130	SF 780	SF 390	R64 10	SF 390	R16 120	W 900	R16 105	W 470	F 180	W 115	SF 110	QF 100	R32 60	4,120	24	2
8	Elina Svitolina	QF 430	R32 130	SF 780	SF 780	SF 390	R64 10	R64 10	QF 215	SF 350	QF 190	QF 190	SF 185	R16 105	QF 100	QF 100	R16 30	3,995	21	0
Alternates / WTA Elite Trophy
9	Serena Williams	QF 430	R32 130	F 1300	F 1300	R32 65	R32 65	A 0	A 0	F 585	R32 60							3,935	8	0
10	Kiki Bertens	R64 70	R64 70	R32 130	R32 130	R16 120	R16 120	W 1000	SF 390	SF 350	R16 105	W 470	SF 185	SF 185	SF 185	F 180	F 180	3,870	25	2
11	Johanna Konta	R64 70	SF 780	QF 430	QF 430	R32 65	R64 35	R32 65	A 0	F 585	R64 1	F 180	QF 60	R16 55	R16 55	R16 55	Q2 13	2,879	16	0
12	Sofia Kenin	R64 70	R16 240	R64 70	R32 130	R64 35	R64 10	R64 10	R16 120	SF 350	SF 350	W 280	W 280	W 280	F 180	R16 105	R16 105	2,615	23	3

Doubles

• Teams in gold qualified for the WTA Finals.
• Team in brown withdrew from consideration of competing as alternates.

Rank	Team	Points											Total Points	Tourn	Titles
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
1	Elise Mertens Aryna Sabalenka	W 2000	W 1000	W 1000	SF 780	F 585	QF 430	R16 240	R16 10	R32 10	R16 1	R16 1	6,057	11	3
2	Hsieh Su-wei Barbora Strýcová	W 2000	W 1000	W 900	W 470	R16 240	R16 240	QF 215	QF 190	R16 120	R16 105	R16 10	5,490	13	4
3	Tímea Babos Kristina Mladenovic	W 2000	F 1300	SF 780	QF 430	W 280	QF 215	SF 185	R32 10	R32 10	R16 1		5,211	10	2
4	Gabriela Dabrowski Xu Yifan	F 1300	F 650	QF 430	QF 430	SF 390	SF 350	W 280	QF 215	QF 215	QF 190	SF 185	4,635	21	1
5	Chan Hao-ching Latisha Chan	W 470	W 470	W 470	QF 430	SF 390	SF 390	SF 350	SF 350	F 305	W 280	R16 240	4,145	20	4
6	Barbora Krejčíková Kateřina Siniaková	W 900	SF 780	F 650	QF 430	SF 350	W 280	QF 215	QF 190	SF 185	R64 10	R32 10	4,000	11	2
7	Zhang Shuai	W 2000	F 650	QF 430	QF 215	QF 190	R32 130	R16 120	R16 105	QF 60	R64 10	R32 10	3,920	13	1
8	Anna-Lena Grönefeld Demi Schuurs	F 585	F 585	F 585	QF 430	SF 350	F 305	F 305	QF 215	QF 215	QF 190	R32 130	3,895	15	0
Alternates
9	Victoria Azarenka Ashleigh Barty	F 1300	W 900	SF 390	SF 350	R16 240	R16 130	R16 120	R32 10				3,440	8	1
10	Nicole Melichar Květa Peschke	W 470	W 470	W 470	QF 430	QF 430	R16 240	QF 215	QF 190	QF 190	F 180	R32 130	3,415	25	3

Player head-to-head

Singles

		Barty	Plíšková	Osaka	Halep	Andreescu	Kvitová	Bencic	Svitolina	Overall	YTD
1	Ashleigh Barty		3–2	2–2	1–3	0–0	2–4	0–0	0–5	8–16	53–11
2	Karolína Plíšková	2–3		2–2	3–7	0–1	1–3	0–1	5–3	13–20	50–15
3	Naomi Osaka	2–2	2–2		1–4	1–0	1–0	1–3	3–3	11–14	40–11
4	Simona Halep	3–1	7–3	4–1		0–0	3–1	2–2	5–4	24–12	42–15
5	Bianca Andreescu	0–0	1–0	0–1	0–0		0–0	1–0	1–0	3–1	48–5
6	Petra Kvitová	4–2	3–1	0–1	1–3	0–0		4–1	7–2	19–10	37–13
7	Belinda Bencic	0–0	1–0	3–1	2–2	0–1	1–4		2–1	9–9	44–21
8	Elina Svitolina	5–0	3–5	3–3	4–5	0–1	2–7	1–2		18–23	35–21

Doubles

		Mertens Sabalenka	Hsieh Strýcová	Babos Mladenovic	Dabrowski Xu	Chan Chan	Krejčíková Siniaková	Zhang	Grönefeld Schuurs	Overall	YTD
1	Elise Mertens Aryna Sabalenka		1–1	1–1	2–0	1–0	1–1	1–0	1–0	8–3	29–8
2	Hsieh Su-wei Barbora Strýcová	1–1		1–0	3–0	2–1	0–0	1–0	2–0	10–2	28–8
3	Tímea Babos Kristina Mladenovic	1–1	0–1		1–0	0–0	2–0	2–1	0–0	6–3	23–7
4	Gabriela Dabrowski Xu Yifan	0–2	0–3	0–1		0–1	2–0	1–1	0–1	3–9	33–19
5	Chan Hao-ching Latisha Chan	0–1	1–2	0–0	1–0		0–2	1–1	2–3	5–9	40–16
6	Barbora Krejčíková Kateřina Siniaková	1–1	0–0	0–2	0–2	2–0		0–1	2–0	5–6	23–10
7	Zhang Shuai	0–1	0–1	1–2	1–1	1–1	1–0		0–0	4–6	20–12
8	Anna-Lena Grönefeld Demi Schuurs	0–1	0–2	0–0	1–0	3–2	0–2	0–0		4–7	29–17

See also

• 2019 WTA Tour
• 2019 WTA Elite Trophy
• 2019 ATP Finals

References

External links

• Official website