The 2011 WTA Tour Championships (also known for sponsorship reasons as the 2011 TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships) was a tennis tournament played at Istanbul, Turkey from October 25 to October 30, 2011. It was the first time Turkey hosted the WTA Tour Championships. It was the 41st edition of the singles event and the 36th edition of the doubles competition. The tournament was held at the Sinan Erdem Dome and was contested by eight singles players and four doubles teams. It was the larger of two season ending championships on the 2011 WTA Tour.
Finals
Singles
Petra Kvitová defeated Victoria Azarenka, 7–5, 4–6, 6–3. It was Kvitová's sixth title of the year and seventh of her career. She won the WTA Championship title at her first appearance, closing the year as second in WTA rankings, Azarenka being third.
Doubles
Liezel Huber / Lisa Raymond defeated Květa Peschke / Katarina Srebotnik, 6–4, 6–4. Huber and Raymond won their third and fourth Doubles WTA Championship title and the first as a couple, Huber winning paired to Cara Black in 2007 and 2008, Raymond with Samantha Stosur in 2005 and 2006 and Rennae Stubbs back in 2001. Peschke and Srebotnik lost their second WTA Championship final in a row.
Tournament The 2011 WTA Championships took place at the Sinan Erdem Dome 25–30 October 2011. It was the 41st edition of the event. The tournament was jointly run by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and was part of the 2011 WTA Tour. It was the larger of the two season ending championships on the 2011 WTA Tour, the smaller being the Tournament of Champions the following week. The latter is only for players who did not qualify for the WTA Championships.
Format The singles event featured eight players and began as a round robin event, with four players in each of two groups called the Red Group and the White Group. Over the first four days of competition, each player met the other three players in their group, with the top two in each group advancing to the semifinals. The first-placed player in one group met the second-placed player in the other group, and vice versa. The winners of each semifinal met in the championship match.
The doubles competition had four teams playing in a straight knockout format from the semifinal stage.
Round robin tie-breaking methods The final standings of each group shall be determined by the first of the following methods that apply: Greatest number of wins Greatest number of matches played; or 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; or b. Highest percentage of sets won; or c. Highest percentage of games won
Turkey earthquake 2011 WTA players and TEB BNP Paribas, the title sponsor of the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships, made a joint donation of US$250,000 to the Turkish Red Crescent to support the victims of the recent devastating earthquake in Turkey.
Close to 600 people died and more than 2,300 were injured during the country's most powerful earthquake in more than a decade. WTA stars participating in the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships donated a percentage of their Championships prize money, which was matched by both the WTA and TEB BNP Paribas.
The Turkish Red Crescent is Turkey's arm of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the world's largest humanitarian network. Turkish Red Crescent took immediate action after the earthquake, mobilizing its staff and emergency supplies for thousands of victims.
Prize money and points The total prize money for the 2011 WTA Championships is 4.9 million United States dollars.
StageSinglesDoublesPoints 1Champion RR2 + $1,295,000 $375,000 RR2 + 810Runner-up RR2 + $435,000 $187,500 RR2 + 360Semifinalist RR2 + $35,000 $93,750 RR2Round robin (3 wins) $455,000 –690Round robin (2 wins) $340,000 –530Round robin (1 win) $225,000 –370Round robin (0 wins) $110,000 –210Alternates $50,000 – 1 for every match played in the round robin a player gets 70 points automatically, and for each round robin win they get 160 additional points 2 RR means Prize money or Points won in the round robin Round. RR for doubles is 690
Qualified players
Singles
Race singles (as of October 24, 2011)RkPlayerPointsTournDate Qualified17,395215 September26,370145 September35,970181 October45,750191 October55,351175 October65,190209 October75,115209 October84,9401921 October
On September 5, Caroline Wozniacki and Maria Sharapova became the first two players to qualify for the championships.
Caroline Wozniacki won six singles titles in 2011. She began the year with a loss at the Medibank International Sydney to Dominika Cibulková. She then reached three consecutive finals at the Dubai Tennis Championships defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova 6–1, 6–3, Qatar Ladies Open losing to Vera Zvonareva 4–6, 4–6, and Indian Wells beating Marion Bartoli 6–1, 2–6, 6–3. Her 3rd title came at the Family Circle Cup, where she won against unseeded Elena Vesnina 6–2, 6–3. She then lost to Julia Görges 6–7(3–7), 3–6 at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. Her 4th and 5th singles title were at the Brussels Open defeating Peng Shuai 2–6, 6–3, 6–3, and her home tournament the e-Boks Sony Ericsson Open defeating Lucie Šafářová 6–1, 6–4. However, she had a 3-match losing streak in the summer season before winning the New Haven Open at Yale against Petra Cetkovská 6–4, 6–1 for the 4th consecutive time. At the Slams, Wozniacki reached the semis of the Australian Open and the US Open, falling to Li Na 3–6, 7–5, 6–3 after failing to convert a match point and Serena Williams 6–2, 6–4 respectively. However, she suffered early exits in the third round of the French Open to Daniela Hantuchová 6–1, 6–3 and the fourth round of the Wimbledon to Dominika Cibulková 1–6, 7–6(7–5), 7–5. This is her third appearance at the event, with her best result in 2010 when she reached the final.
Maria Sharapova regained some of her form by performing consistently throughout the year with two Premier-5 titles. Sharapova was crowned Internazionali BNL d'Italia on red clay, by beating World no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki 7–5, 6–3 in the semis and sixth-seeded Samantha Stosur 6–2, 6–4 in the final. Her second title came at the Western & Southern Open, where she defeated fellow former World No. 1 Jelena Janković 4–6, 7–6(7–3), 6–3 in two hours and 49 minutes, making it the longest WTA tour final this year. She also made 2 other finals at the Sony Ericsson Open, losing to Victoria Azarenka 1–6, 4–6 and the final of the Wimbledon Championships, losing to Petra Kvitová 3–6, 4–6. This was also her first Grand Slam final appearance since winning the 2008 Australian Open . At the other Slams, Sharapova reached the Semifinals of the French Open, falling to eventual champion Li Na 4–6, 5–7, but fell early in the fourth round of the Australian Open, losing 2–6, 3–6 to Andrea Petkovic, and the third round of the US Open, beaten by Flavia Pennetta 3–6, 6–3, 4–6. This is the first time since 2007 that she has been qualified for the Championships. She has never lost before the semifinals in her previous four appearances, with her best result on her debut at the event, beating Serena Williams in 2004.
On October 1, Petra Kvitová and Victoria Azarenka qualified for the championships.
Petra Kvitová won five titles prior to the Championships, capturing her sixth at this tournament. She began the year by winning the Brisbane International, defeating Andrea Petkovic 6–1, 6–3. She then reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open, upsetting 5th seed Samantha Stosur 7–6(7–5), 6–3 in the third round before losing to Vera Zvonareva 2–6, 4–6. She then won the Open GDF Suez, defeating Kim Clijsters 6–4, 6–3. She then lost 4 of her next 5 matches before winning the Mutua Madrid Open, defeating Victoria Azarenka 7–6(7–3), 6–4 in the final. Later, she fell in the fourth round of the French Open to eventual champion Li Na 2–6, 6–1, 6–3. She then reached the final of the Aegon International, losing to Marion Bartoli 1–6, 6–4, 5–7. Her most significant title came by winning Wimbledon, beating Maria Sharapova 6–3, 6–4 in the final. After the triumph, she lost back-to-back third round matches to Andrea Petkovic in the US Open Series before becoming the first Wimbledon champion ever to fall in the first round of the US Open, where she lost to Alexandra Dulgheru 7–6(7–3), 6–3. She then won her fifth title of the year at the Generali Ladies Linz, defeating Slovakian Dominika Cibulková 6–4, 6–1. This is her debut at the championships.
Victoria Azarenka won three titles this year. She picked up her second Sony Ericsson Open trophy after defeating Maria Sharapova in the final 6–1, 6–4 and upsetting 2nd seed Kim Clijsters and 3rd seed Vera Zvonareva earlier. She then won her first clay title the following week at the Andalucia Tennis Experience, defeating Irina-Camelia Begu in the final 6–3, 6–2. She then claimed a title before the championships at the BGL Luxembourg Open defeating Monica Niculescu 6–2, 6–2. She reached another final at the Mutua Madrid Open, losing to Petra Kvitová in the final 7–6(7–3), 6–4. Azarenka reached her first Slam semifinal at Wimbledon losing to eventual champion Petra Kvitová 6–1, 3–6, 6–2. At the other Slams, she lost in the fourth round of the Australian Open and the quarterfinal of the French Open both to Li Na, and the third round of the 2011 US Open to Serena Williams 6–1, 7–6(7–5). Azarenka is making her third consecutive appearance at the event.
On October 5, Li Na became the fifth player to qualify for the championships.
Li Na has had a memorable yet very inconsistent year. She started the year by winning Sydney defeating Kim Clijsters in the final 7–6(3), 6–3 and reaching the final of the Australian Open, upsetting world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in the semi-finals, but losing to Kim Clijsters 6–3, 3–6, 3–6. However, she lost her next 4 matches before bouncing back in the European clay season, reaching the semifinals of the Mutua Madrid Open and Internazionali BNL d'Italia. Li then won her first Grand Slam title and became the first Grand Slam singles champion born in an Asian country at the French Open, defeating defending champion Francesca Schiavone 6–4, 7–6(7–0) in the final. Following her French Open victory, she has had disappointing results for the rest of the year with the 5–7 record, including the second round lost at Wimbledon to Sabine Lisicki 6–3, 4–6, 6–8 and the first round defeat from Simona Halep 6–2, 7–5 at the US Open. Li is making her debut at the tournament after being an alternate last year.
On October 9, Vera Zvonareva and Samantha Stosur qualified for the championships.
Vera Zvonareva was not able to duplicate her 2010 season in 2011, however, she won two titles this year to one in the previous year. She won her first title in over a year at the Qatar Ladies Open, defeating world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki 6–4, 6–4 in the final. She then won her second title at the Baku Cup, beating her compatriot Ksenia Pervak in the final 6–1, 6–4. She reached two other finals in the Mercury Insurance Open and the 2011 Toray Pan Pacific Open, both losing to Agnieszka Radwańska with a scoreline of 6–3, 6–4 and 6–3, 6–2, respectively. At the Slams, her best result was reaching the semi-finals of the Australian Open, losing to Kim Clijsters 6–3, 6–3. She also lost in the quarterfinals of the US Open to Samantha Stosur 6–3, 6–3, the fourth round of the French Open to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7–6(7–4), 2–6, 6–2, and the third round of the Wimbledon to Tsvetana Pironkova 6–2, 6–3. Zvonareva is making her fifth appearance at the Championships. Her best result was reaching the final in 2008.