2021 WTA Finals

The 2021 WTA Finals, also known by its sponsored name Akron WTA Finals Guadalajara, is the women's championship tennis tournament run by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) as part of the 2021 WTA Tour. It is scheduled to be played at the Panamerican Tennis Center in Guadalajara, Mexico. The tournament was originally scheduled to take place at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center in Shenzhen, China, but due to travel restrictions owing to the COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China, it was announced on September 13, 2021 that the tournament would move to Guadalajara for the year. This is the first time Mexico will host the WTA Finals. The tournament will be the 50th edition of the singles event and the 45th of the doubles competition. It will be contested by eight singles players and eight doubles teams.

2021 WTA Finals
Date	10–17 November
Edition	50th (singles) / 45th (doubles)
Draw	8S / 8D
Prize money	$5,000,000
Surface	Hard / Outdoor
Location	Guadalajara, Mexico
Venue	Panamerican Tennis Center
2019 Champions
Singles
Ashleigh Barty
Doubles
Tímea Babos / Kristina Mladenovic

Qualifying

In the singles, point totals are calculated by combining point totals from sixteen tournaments (excluding ITF and WTA 125 tournaments). Of these sixteen tournaments, a player's results from the four Grand Slam events, the four WTA 1000 tournaments with 1,000 points for the winner, and (for the players who played the main draw least 2 such tournaments) the best results from two WTA 1000 tournaments with 900 points maximum 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.

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.

Qualified players

Singles

#	Player	Points	Date qualified
–	Ashleigh Barty		withdrew
1	Aryna Sabalenka		20 September
2	Barbora Krejčíková		20 September
3	Karolína Plíšková		4 October
4	Maria Sakkari		22 October
5	Iga Świątek		23 October
6	Garbiñe Muguruza		23 October
7
8

Sabalenka

Krejčíková

Plíšková

Sakkari

Świątek

Muguruza

Ashleigh Barty, Aryna Sabalenka and Barbora Krejcikova were announced as the first three qualifiers on September 20.

Barty began 2021 by defeating Garbine Muguruza in the final of the Yarra Valley Classic, the Australian's first tour event in 11 months. After a quarterfinal defeat to Karolina Muchova in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, Barty defended her title at the Miami Open, won Stuttgart, and reached the final in Madrid, losing only to Aryna Sabalenka and Paula Badosa during that time.

Injury forced her to retire from matches at Rome and the French Open, but Barty rebounded by winning Wimbledon, defeating Karolina Pliskova in the final. Barty suffered a shock first-round exit at the Olympics then won the title in Cincinnati. At the US Open, Barty lost to Shelby Rogers in the third round after serving for the match twice.

On October 23, Barty withdrew from the WTA Finals, citing the toll of spending 8 consecutive months away from home.

Sabalenka carried her dominant form from the end of 2020 into the start of 2021, winning the first tournament of the year in Abu Dhabi. A string of three-set losses followed: to Serena Williams in the Australian Open fourth round, to Muguruza in Doha and Dubai, and to Barty in Miami and the final of Stuttgart. Sabalenka avenged the losses to Barty in the final of Madrid to claim the biggest title of her career. Sabalenka was upset in the third round of the French Open by eventual finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. She reached her first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon, losing in three sets to Pliskova. Sabalenka lost in the second round of the Olympics then reached the semifinals at Montreal, falling again to Pliskova. Sabalenka reached another semifinal at the US Open but lost to Leylah Fernandez.

After arriving in Indian Wells, Sabalenka tested positive for COVID-19 and was forced to withdraw. She accepted a wild card to play in Moscow and suffered only her second straight set loss of the season in the quarterfinals. Sabalenka will be making her WTA Finals debut.

Krejicikova lost in the second round of her first four tournaments of 2021. In Dubai, she reached the final without dropping a set and lost to Muguruza. After a first round loss to Paula Badosa in Madrid, Krejcikova held match points against Iga Swiatek in Rome. She did not lose a match for the next eight weeks, winning her first WTA title in Strasbourg and her first singles Grand Slam at the French Open. At the French Open, Krejcikova saved match points against Maria Sakkari in the semifinals and defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in three sets in the final. Barty snapped her winning streak in the fourth round of Wimbledon, but the Czech captured her third title of the year in Prague. After a third round loss at the Olympics, Krejcikova notched two victories over Muguruza en route to quarterfinals at Cincinnati and the US Open. Krejcikova is expected to represent the Czech Republic at the Billie Jean King Cup in Prague before making her singles debut at the WTA Finals.

Karolina Pliskova was announced as the fourth qualifier on October 4. Pliskova had a nightmare start to the year, losing to Karolina Muchova in the third round of the Australian after blowing a 5-0 lead in the second set. Jessica Pegula eliminated her in the early rounds of Doha, Dubai, and Miami. She served for the match against Barty in Stuttgart but lost in three sets. Pliskova made the final of Rome but lost to Iga Swiatek 6-0 6-0. She lost to Sloane Stephens in the second round of the French Open and failed to defend her title in Eastbourne.

Entering Wimbledon outside the top 10 for the first time since 2016, Pliskova made the final with a comeback win over Sabalenka in the semifinals. In the championship match, Pliskova lost to Ashleigh Barty in three sets. After losing to Camila Giorgi in the second round of the Olympics, Pliskova made the final of Montreal (losing again to Giorgi), the semifinals of Cincinnati, and the quarterfinals of the US Open (falling to Maria Sakkari). Pliskova is making her fifth consecutive singles appearance at the WTA Finals.

Points breakdown

Singles

  Player qualified for the WTA Finals.

  Player withdrew.

  Player is active in Courmayeur or Cluj-Napoca.

Updated as of 25 October 2021.

Rank	Player	Grand Slam				WTA 1000						Best other						Total points	Tourn	Titles
						Mandatory				Best two
		AUS	FRA	WIM	USO	MI	MA	IW	BE	1	2	1	2	3	4	5	6
–	Ashleigh Barty	QF 430	R64 70	W 2000	R32 130	W 1000	F 650	A 0	–	W 900	QF 190	W 470	W 470	QF 100	R16 1			6,411	12	5
1	Aryna Sabalenka	R16 240	R32 130	SF 780	SF 780	QF 215	W 1000	R16 1	R16 1	SF 350	QF 190	W 470	F 305	R16 105	QF 100	QF 100	R32 1	4,768	16	2
2	Barbora Krejčíková	R64 70	W 2000	R16 240	QF 430	R64 35	R64 10	R16 120	Q2 13	F 585	QF 190	W 280	W 280	R16 105	QF 100	R16 30	R32 30	4,518	16	3
3	Karolína Plíšková	R32 130	R64 70	F 1300	QF 430	R32 65	R32 65	R32 65	R16 1	F 585	F 585	SF 350	R16 105	QF 100	QF 100	R16 55	R32 30	4,036	17	0
4	Maria Sakkari	R128 10	SF 780	R64 70	SF 780	SF 390	R16 120	R64 10	R64 1	R16 105	R32 60	F 305	SF 185	SF 185	SF 185	QF 100	R16 55	3,341	17	0
5	Iga Świątek	R16 240	QF 430	R16 240	R16 240	R32 65	R16 120	R16 120	–	W 900	R16 105	W 470	SF 185	R16 55	R16 55	R32 1		3,226	14	2
6	Garbiñe Muguruza	R16 240	R128 10	R32 130	R16 240	R16 120	A 0	R64 10	R16 55	W 900	R16 105	W 470	F 305	F 305	R16 105	QF 100	QF 100	3,195	18	2
7	Paula Badosa	R128 10	QF 430	R16 240	R64 70	R64 35	SF 390	W 1000	R32 1	QF 190	R32 60	W 280	SF 185	SF 110	R16 55	R16 55	R32 1	3,112	16	2
8	Ons Jabeur	R32 130	R16 240	QF 430	R32 130	R16 120	R16 120	SF 390	R16 55	QF 190	R16 105	F 305	W 280	SF 185	F 180	R16 105	R16 55	3,020	20	1
Alternates / WTA Elite Trophy
9	Anett Kontaveit	R32 130	R32 130	R128 10	R32 130	R32 65	R32 65	QF 215	QF 100	R16 105	R64 1	W 470	W 470	F 305	F 305	W 280	QF 100	2,881	20	3
10	Naomi Osaka	W 2000	R64 70	A 0	R32 130	QF 215	R32 65	A 0	–	R16 105	R32 1	SF 185						2,771	8	1
11	Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova	R128 10	F 1300	R32 130	R16 240	R32 1	SF 390	R32 65	R32 1	R32 60	R64 1	QF 100	R16 55	R16 55	R16 55	R16 55	R16 30	2,548	18	0
12	Elina Svitolina	R16 240	R32 130	R64 70	QF 430	SF 390	R64 10	R16 120	R16 55	QF 190	R32 1	W 280	SF 185	QF 100	QF 100	QF 100	QF 100	2,501	19	1
13	Jessica Pegula	QF 430	R32 130	R64 70	R32 130	R16 120	R16 120	QF 215	R16 30	SF 350	QF 190	SF 210	QF 190	R16 105	QF 100	R16 55	R16 55	2,500	18	0
14	Elise Mertens	R16 240	R32 130	R32 130	R16 240	R16 120	QF 215	R64 10	R32 1	SF 350	R32 60	W 470	SF 185	F 180	QF 60	R16 55	R64 1	2,447	18	1
15	Angelique Kerber	R128 10	R128 10	SF 780	R16 240	R32 65	R32 65	QF 215	R64 1	SF 350	R16 105	W 280	QF 100	R16 55	R16 55	R16 55	R16 1	2,387	16	1
16	Coco Gauff	R64 70	QF 430	R16 240	R64 70	R32 30	R64 10	R32 65	R32 30	SF 350	QF 190	W 280	SF 210	QF 190	QF 100	R32 60	R16 55	2,380	17	1
17	Emma Raducanu	–	–	R16 240	W 2040	–	–	R64 10	–			R32 1	R32 1	R64 1				2,293	6	1
18	Belinda Bencic	R32 130	R64 70	R128 10	QF 430	R32 65	QF 215	A 0	R16 55	QF 190	R16 105	F 305	F 305	QF 100	QF 100	QF 60	R16 55	2,195	19	0
19	Victoria Azarenka	R128 10	R16 240	R64 70	R32 130	R16 120	R32 65	F 650	–	QF 190	R16 105	SF 185	SF 185	QF 100	QF 60	R16 55		2,165	14	0

Doubles

  Team qualified for the WTA Finals.

  Team is active in Courmayeur.

Updated as of 25 October 2021.

Rank	Team	Points											Total points	Tourn	Titles
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
1	Barbora Krejčíková Kateřina Siniaková	W 2000	F 1300	W 1000	W 470	QF 430	SF 350	QF 215	QF 190	QF 190	SF 185	R16 120	6,450	12	3
2	Shuko Aoyama Ena Shibahara	W 1000	SF 780	W 470	W 470	W 470	QF 430	SF 390	SF 350	W 280	R16 240	QF 190	5,070	19	5
3	Hsieh Su-wei Elise Mertens	W 2000	W 1000	QF 430	R16 240	SF 110	QF 100	R16 10	R16 1	R16 1			3,892	9	2
4	Nicole Melichar-Martinez Demi Schuurs	SF 780	W 470	W 470	F 305	F 305	R16 240	QF 190	QF 190	SF 185	SF 185	R16 120	3,440	17	2
5	Samantha Stosur Zhang Shuai	W 2000	W 900	R64 10	R32 1								2,911	4	2
6	Coco Gauff Caty McNally	F 1300	QF 430	W 280	R16 240	QF 215	R16 105	QF 100	QF 100				2,770	8	1
7	Alexa Guarachi Desirae Krawczyk	SF 780	W 470	W 280	R16 240	QF 190	SF 185	R16 120	R16 120	SF 110	QF 100	QF 100	2,695	20	2
8	Darija Jurak Andreja Klepač	F 585	W 470	QF 430	W 280	R16 240	SF 185	F 180	R16 105	R16 105	QF 60	R32 10	2,650	15	2
Alternates’’’
9	Gabriela Dabrowski Luisa Stefani	W 900	SF 780	F 585	F 305								2,570	4	1
10	Sharon Fichman Giuliana Olmos	W 900	QF 430	R16 240	R16 240	SF 185	R16 120	R16 120	QF 100	QF 100	R16 55	R32 1	2,491	12	1

See also

• 2021 WTA Tour
• 2021 ATP Finals

External links

• Official website