The 2013 WTA Tour Championships was a women's tennis tournament at Istanbul, Turkey from 22 to 27 October 2013. It was the 43rd edition of the singles event and the 38th edition of the doubles competition. The tournament, held at the Sinan Erdem Dome, was contested by eight singles players and four doubles teams. It was the larger of two season-ending championships on the 2013 WTA Tour.
Finals
Singles
Serena Williams defeated Li Na, 2–6, 6–3, 6–0. It was Williams' record eleventh title in 2013, and her fourth year-end championship title.
Doubles
Hsieh Su-wei / Peng Shuai defeated Ekaterina Makarova / Elena Vesnina, 6–4, 7–5.
Tournament The 2013 WTA Championships took place at the Sinan Erdem Dome 22–27 October 2013, and was the 43rd edition of the event. The tournament was run by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) as part of the 2013 WTA Tour.
Format The singles event featured eight players in a round robin event, split into two groups of four. Over the first four days of competition, each player met 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 met the second-placed player in the other group, and vice versa. The winners of each semifinal met in the championship match.
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; 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
The doubles competition had four teams playing in a straight knockout format from the semifinal stage.
Prize money and points The total prize money for the 2013 WTA Championships was US$6,000,000.
StageSinglesDoublesPoints 1Champion RR2 + $1,590,000 $460,000 RR3 + 810Runner-up RR2 + $535,000 $230,000 RR3 + 360Semifinalist RR2 + $36,500 $115,000 RR3Round robin (3 wins) $555,0002 690Round robin (2 wins) $415,0002 530Round robin (1 win) $275,0002 370Round robin (0 wins) $135,0002 210Participation fee $70,000 Alternates $61,000 1 for every match played in the round robin a player got 70 points automatically, and for each round robin win they got 160 additional points 2 Each round robin win gives an additional $160,000 and each loss gives an additional $20,000. Playing all 3 matches gives an additional $5,000. 3 RR means prize money or points won in the round robin round. RR for doubles was 690
Qualified players
Singles #PlayersPointsTournDate Qualified112,04016(14)5 August27,67615(13)24 Augustinj5,89114(10)23 September35,8902023 September45,12017(14)27 September54,370227 October64,190217 October73,860197 October83,71521(20)11 October
On 5 August, Serena Williams became the first player to qualify for the championships.
Serena Williams started the year with high expectations after finishing the 2012 season strongly. She won the Brisbane International against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova with the loss of just 17 games and was the favorite to win the Australian Open. However, she twisted her ankle during her first round match against Edina Gallovits-Hall. Despite advancing to the second week of the tournament, she lost to Sloane Stephens in the quarterfinals. Williams returned to competition at the Qatar Open where she reclaimed the world No. 1 by winning her quarterfinals match. She lost in three sets in the final to Victoria Azarenka. After the loss, Williams went on a 34-match winning streak with titles at the Sony Open Tennis over Maria Sharapova, Family Circle Cup over Jelena Janković, Mutua Madrid Open over Sharapova, Internazionali BNL d'Italia over Azarenka, and her second French Open title defeating defending champion Sharapova in straight sets in the final. She became the fourth woman in the Open era after Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert and Steffi Graf to win each Grand Slam title twice or more. Her streak ended at the fourth round of Wimbledon losing to Sabine Lisicki but rebounded three weeks later by claiming her first international-level title in Swedish Open defeating Johanna Larsson in two sets. This win marked Williams being undefeated in clay in 2013. Williams started her US Open Series at the Rogers Cup where she won her eight title of the year against Sorana Cîrstea. She reached the final of Western & Southern Open a week later, an achievement that clinched her the first-place position of the 2013 US Open Series, but lost to Azarenka. Williams won her 17th Slam singles title at the US Open where she defeated Azarenka in three sets in the final. At the China Open, Williams won her 10th title over Jelena Janković. This is the first time Williams reached double digits in titles in a single season. Williams went into the 2013 Championships as the defending champion.
On 24 August, Victoria Azarenka claimed the second singles spot at the Championships.
Victoria Azarenka started the year as the world No. 1 and played her first tournament in Brisbane where she withdrew before her semifinals match against Serena Williams. She successfully defended her Australian Open crown after defeating Li Na in the final, claiming her second Major. Despite defending her Qatar Total Open title and defeating Williams for the first time since 2009 in the final, Azarenka relinquished her number 1 ranking to Williams. At the BNP Paribas Open, she withdrew before her quarterfinals match against Caroline Wozniacki and missed Sony Open Tennis. She reached the final of Internazionali BNL d'Italia losing to Williams in two sets. She reached the semifinals of the French Open for the first time in her career losing to Maria Sharapova in three sets. At Wimbledon, she withdrew before her second round match against Flavia Pennetta due to a knee injury. She returned to competition at the Southern California Open and lost in the final to Samantha Stosur. She then won her 3rd title at the Western & Southern Open, defeating Williams for the second time in the season. Azarenka reached the final of the US Open where she lost to Williams in three sets. In the Toray Pan Pacific Open and China Open, Azarenka suffered two consecutive losses in her opening matches against Venus Williams and Andrea Petkovic, respectively.
On 23 September, Maria Sharapova and Agnieszka Radwańska were announced as the third and fourth qualifiers for the Championships.
Maria Sharapova began her year at the Australian Open as the second seed, dropping a record-low nine games en route to the semifinals, where she lost to Li Na in straight sets. She won her first title of the year at the BNP Paribas Open defeating Caroline Wozniacki in the final. She followed it up with a final appearance at the Sony Open Tennis where she lost to Serena Williams. She began her clay-court season campaign with a successful title-defense in Porsche Tennis Grand Prix over Li. She followed it up by reaching the final of Mutua Madrid Open, once again losing to Williams. Coming as the defending champion of the French Open, Sharapova reached the final but lost for the fourth time in the season to Williams in straight-sets. Seeded second at Wimbledon, she lost in the second round to Michelle Larcher de Brito. Sharapova withdrew from the US Open, Toray Pan Pacific Open, and China Open due to a right shoulder injury. However, Sharapova withdrew from the championship due to a right shoulder injury.
Agnieszka Radwańska started the season with back to back titles at the ASB Classic over Yanina Wickmayer and Apia International Sydney over Dominika Cibulková in the final, but her streak ended at 13 in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open to Li Na. She reached the quarterfinals of the French Open for the first time losing to Sara Errani. At Wimbledon, she reached the semifinals where she lost in a close-fought three setter against eventual runner-up Sabine Lisicki. She played at the Bank of the West Classic losing to Cibulková in the final. She lost in the fourth round of the US Open to Ekaterina Makarova. She won her third title at the Seoul over Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
On 27 September, Li Na was announced as the fifth singles qualifier of the Championships.
Li Na started the year with a seventh career title at the maiden edition of the Shenzhen Open. She reached her second Australian Open final where she lost to Victoria Azarenka in three sets. After a seven-week absence due to an ankle injury, she returned to the competition at the Sony Open Tennis where she lost to Serena Williams in the quarterfinals. She started her clay court season at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix where she lost to Maria Sharapova in the final. The remainder of her clay court swing was somewhat disappointing, as she lost in the first round of the Mutua Madrid Open and third round of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia before crashing out in the second round of the French Open to Bethanie Mattek-Sands. She reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon, losing to Agnieszka Radwańska in three tight sets. Her US Open series campaign was highlighted by semifinal showings at the Rogers Cup and Western & Southern Open, falling to Sorana Cîrstea and Wiliams, respectively. At the US Open, she reached the semifinals for the first time, becoming the first Asian tennis player to do so. She was ousted by eventual champion Serena Williams in straight sets.
On 7 October, three more spots were filled by Petra Kvitová, Sara Errani, and Jelena Janković.
Petra Kvitová had a disappointing start of 2013, not winning back to back matches in the first month including a loss in the second round of the Australian Open to Laura Robson. She then won her first title of the year at the Dubai Tennis Championship defeating Sara Errani in three sets. She reached her second final of the year at the BNP Paribas Katowice Open but fell to Italian Roberta Vinci. Kvitová then suffered a third round loss at the French Open at the hands of American Jamie Hampton. At Wimbledon, she was able to reach the quarterfinals for the 4th year in a row but received an upset in the hands of Belgian Kirsten Flipkens. As the defending champion at the New Haven Open at Yale she reached the final, but ended in the losing side against Simona Halep. At the US Open, Kvitová fell convincingly to American wildcard Alison Riske in the third round in 65 minutes. She then won her 11th career title at the Toray Pan Pacific Open beating German Angelique Kerber in three sets.
Sara Errani, despite reaching a career high ranking of No. 5 in 2013, had less success than in 2012. At the Australian Open, as the seventh seed was upset by Carla Suárez Navarro in the first round. She reached her first final of the year at the Open GDF Suez losing to Mona Barthel in two close sets. She then reached the final of the Dubai Tennis Championships falling to Petra Kvitová in three sets. The following week, She defended her title at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel defeating Spaniard Carla Suárez Navarro. At the French Open, Errani reached the semifinals losing to Serena Williams in convincing fashion. She then suffered her second first round loss in a Major in the year at Wimbledon to Monica Puig. As the defending champion at the Internazionali Femminili di Palermo, she reached the final against compatriot and doubles partner Roberta Vinci, but lost in three sets. At the US Open, she was upset by Flavia Pennetta in the second round.