By Jane Voigt
October 19, 2014 — The elite eight women tennis players that accumulated the most ranking points for the calendar year are set to begin the WTA World Tour Final on Monday in Singapore.
The women have been divided in two groups, most imaginably called “Red Group,” and “White Group.”
The draw, which took place in Singapore today, landed Serena Williams (seeded No. 1) in the Red Group, along with two first time entrants Simona Halep (No. 4) and Eugenie Bouchard (No. 5). Ana Ivanovic (No. 7) makes up the fourth.
Maria Sharapova, seeded No. 2, leads the White Group, which includes Petra Kvitova (No. 3), Agnieszka Radwanska (No. 6), and Caroline Wozniacki (No. 8).
Here is a breakdown of each woman’s accomplishments for the year, as compiled by the WTA Tour.
RED GROUP: SERENA, HALEP, BOUCHARD & IVANOVIC
(1) Serena Williams (USA #1)
~ 2014 Titles: 6 (Brisbane, Miami, Rome, Stanford, Cincinnati, US Open)
~ 2014 Record: 48-7 (3-1 fall record)
~ Best Grand Slam result in 2014: Won (US Open)
~ H2H vs rest of group: 11-1
~ H2H vs rest of field: 49-4
~ WTA Finals history: 9th appearance (25-5 record – champion in 2001, 2009, 2012 and 2013)
(4) Simona Halep (ROU #3)
~ 2014 Titles: 2 (Doha, Bucharest)
~ 2014 Record: 43-14 (3-1 fall record)
~ Best Grand Slam result in 2014: Finalist (French Open)
~ H2H vs rest of group: 3-5
~ H2H vs rest of field: 8-15
~ WTA Finals history: 1st appearance
(5) Eugenie Bouchard (CAN #7)
~ 2014 Titles: 1 (Nürnberg)
~ 2014 Record: 45-20 (5-2 fall record)
~ Best Grand Slam result in 2014: Finalist (Wimbledon)
~ H2H vs rest of group: 3-2
~ H2H vs rest of field: 4-9
~ WTA Finals history: 1st appearance
(7) Ana Ivanovic (SRB #8)
~ 2014 Titles: 4 (Auckland, Monterrey, Birmingham, Tokyo [Pan Pacific])
~ 2014 Record: 56-16 (8-2 fall record)
~ Best Grand Slam result in 2014: Quarterfinalist (Australian Open)
~ H2H vs rest of group: 2-11
~ H2H vs rest of field: 18-32
~ WTA Finals history: 3rd appearance (2-4 record – semifinalist in 2007)
WHITE GROUP: SHARAPOVA, KVITOVA, RADWANSKA & WOZNIACKI
(2) Maria Sharapova (RUS #2)
~ 2014 Titles: 4 (Stuttgart, Madrid, French Open, Beijing)
~ 2014 Record: 48-11 (7-1 fall record)
~ Best Grand Slam result in 2014: Won (French Open)
~ H2H vs rest of group: 21-7
~ H2H vs rest of field: 40-27
~ WTA Finals history: 7th appearance (17-8 record – champion in 2004)
(3) Petra Kvitova (CZE #4)
~ 2014 Titles: 3 (Wimbledon, New Haven, Wuhan)
~ 2014 Record: 40-14 (8-1 fall record)
~ Best Grand Slam result in 2014: Won (Wimbledon)
~ H2H vs rest of group: 11-11
~ H2H vs rest of field: 17-22
~ WTA Finals history: 4th appearance (7-3 record – champion in 2011)
(6) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL #6)
~ 2014 Titles: 1 (Montréal)
~ 2014 Record: 46-19 (3-3 fall record)
~ Best Grand Slam result in 2014: Semifinalist (Australian Open)
~ H2H vs rest of group: 7-21
~ H2H vs rest of field: 19-34
~ WTA Finals history: 6th appearance (5-7 record – semifinalist in 2012)
(8) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN #9)
~ 2014 Titles: 1 (Istanbul)
~ 2014 Record: 46-18 (6-3 fall record)
~ Best Grand Slam result in 2014: Finalist (US Open)
~ H2H vs rest of group: 13-13
~ H2H vs rest of field: 17-29
~ WTA Finals history: 4th appearance (6-6 record – finalist in 2010)
The week presents tough competition, each match in the draw equal in difficulty to that of a quarterfinal at a major.
There are six matches per group, in the round-robin phase. The women that place first and second in each group then play a semifinal against the first and second place finishers in the opposing group: first-place Red plays second-place White, and first-place White plays second-place Red.
For each round-robin win, a player receives 230 points. The loser earns 70 points. If the match records are tied, by the end of the round-robin phase, the number of games won become part of the calculation that determines first and second places per group.
The Singapore winner receives 810 ranking points and second place wins 360. Compared to a Grand Slam, which awards 2000 and 1300 respectively, the WTA Tour Final tournament comes up short. It also falls behind WTA Premier Mandatory events that award 1000/650 points, and WTA Premier 5 events that award 900/585 rankings points.
However, the prize money certainly is enticing. The total prize money for the event is $6,500,000; and, each player receives a “Participation Fee” of $100,000, up front.
Serena Williams is the defending champion in Singapore. She earned $2,146,000 in total prize money in 2013 at the WTA Tour Finals in Istanbul, playing 5 matches for the week. In comparison, Williams won $4,000,000 for winning the U.S. Open in September. However, she had to win seven rounds to collect that hefty check.
