The list is our own count, rebuilt from the WTA's official records, its match data and archived draw sheets, and checked against Wikipedia's page for each edition. The event has been played every year since 1972 except 2020, when the Shenzhen edition was canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic, and twice in 1986, in March and November, as it moved to the end of the season.
WTA Finals winners list, 1972 to 2025
Chris Evert won the first two editions, in Boca Raton, Florida, and Coco Gauff and Rybakina the two most recent, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. From 1984 to 1998 the final was best of five sets.
| Year | Champion | Runner-up | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Chris Evert | Kerry Melville | 7-5, 6-4 |
| 1973 | Chris Evert | Nancy Richey | 6-3, 6-3 |
| 1974 | Evonne Goolagong Cawley | Chris Evert | 6-3, 6-4 |
| 1975 | Chris Evert | Martina Navratilova | 6-4, 6-2 |
| 1976 | Evonne Goolagong Cawley | Chris Evert | 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 |
| 1977 | Chris Evert | Sue Barker | 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 |
| 1978 | Martina Navratilova | Evonne Goolagong Cawley | 7-6(2), 6-4 |
| 1979 | Martina Navratilova | Tracy Austin | 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 |
| 1980 | Tracy Austin | Martina Navratilova | 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 |
| 1981 | Martina Navratilova | Andrea Jaeger | 6-3, 7-6(3) |
| 1982 | Sylvia Hanika | Martina Navratilova | 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 |
| 1983 | Martina Navratilova | Chris Evert | 6-2, 6-0 |
| 1984 | Martina Navratilova | Chris Evert | 6-3, 7-5, 6-1 |
| 1985 | Martina Navratilova | Helena Sukova | 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 |
| 1986 (Mar.) | Martina Navratilova | Hana Mandlikova | 6-2, 6-0, 3-6, 6-1 |
| 1986 (Nov.) | Martina Navratilova | Steffi Graf | 7-6(6), 6-3, 6-2 |
| 1987 | Steffi Graf | Gabriela Sabatini | 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, 6-4 |
| 1988 | Gabriela Sabatini | Pam Shriver | 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 |
| 1989 | Steffi Graf | Martina Navratilova | 6-4, 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 |
| 1990 | Monica Seles | Gabriela Sabatini | 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 |
| 1991 | Monica Seles | Martina Navratilova | 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 |
| 1992 | Monica Seles | Martina Navratilova | 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 |
| 1993 | Steffi Graf | Arantxa Sanchez Vicario | 6-1, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 |
| 1994 | Gabriela Sabatini | Lindsay Davenport | 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 |
| 1995 | Steffi Graf | Anke Huber | 6-1, 2-6, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 |
| 1996 | Steffi Graf | Martina Hingis | 6-3, 4-6, 6-0, 4-6, 6-0 |
| 1997 | Jana Novotna | Mary Pierce | 7-6(4), 6-2, 6-3 |
| 1998 | Martina Hingis | Lindsay Davenport | 7-5, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 |
| 1999 | Lindsay Davenport | Martina Hingis | 6-4, 6-2 |
| 2000 | Martina Hingis | Monica Seles | 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4 |
| 2001 | Serena Williams | Lindsay Davenport | walkover |
| 2002 | Kim Clijsters | Serena Williams | 7-5, 6-3 |
| 2003 | Kim Clijsters | Amelie Mauresmo | 6-2, 6-0 |
| 2004 | Maria Sharapova | Serena Williams | 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 |
| 2005 | Amelie Mauresmo | Mary Pierce | 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-4 |
| 2006 | Justine Henin | Amelie Mauresmo | 6-4, 6-3 |
| 2007 | Justine Henin | Maria Sharapova | 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 |
| 2008 | Venus Williams | Vera Zvonareva | 6-7(5), 6-0, 6-2 |
| 2009 | Serena Williams | Venus Williams | 6-2, 7-6(4) |
| 2010 | Kim Clijsters | Caroline Wozniacki | 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 |
| 2011 | Petra Kvitova | Victoria Azarenka | 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 |
| 2012 | Serena Williams | Maria Sharapova | 6-4, 6-3 |
| 2013 | Serena Williams | Li Na | 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 |
| 2014 | Serena Williams | Simona Halep | 6-3, 6-0 |
| 2015 | Agnieszka Radwanska | Petra Kvitova | 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 |
| 2016 | Dominika Cibulkova | Angelique Kerber | 6-3, 6-4 |
| 2017 | Caroline Wozniacki | Venus Williams | 6-4, 6-4 |
| 2018 | Elina Svitolina | Sloane Stephens | 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 |
| 2019 | Ashleigh Barty | Elina Svitolina | 6-4, 6-3 |
| 2021 | Garbine Muguruza | Anett Kontaveit | 6-3, 7-5 |
| 2022 | Caroline Garcia | Aryna Sabalenka | 7-6(4), 6-4 |
| 2023 | Iga Swiatek | Jessica Pegula | 6-1, 6-0 |
| 2024 | Coco Gauff | Zheng Qinwen | 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(2) |
| 2025 | Elena Rybakina | Aryna Sabalenka | 6-3, 7-6(0) |
Most WTA Finals titles: Navratilova, Graf and Serena Williams
Navratilova reached 14 finals and won eight, the last five in a row from 1983 to November 1986, the longest run of consecutive titles in the event's history. Steffi Graf and Serena Williams won five each, Evert four, and Monica Seles and Kim Clijsters three. The other 18 champions won it once.
The defending champion has won again 13 times, most recently Serena Williams in 2014, the third of three straight titles. No champion has repeated since. Two players have lost two finals without ever winning: Mary Pierce, in 1997 and 2005, and Aryna Sabalenka, in 2022 and 2025.
First-time WTA Finals champions, with or without a major
Radwanska's title in 2015 started the run of new champions: Dominika Cibulkova, Caroline Wozniacki, Elina Svitolina, Ashleigh Barty, Garbine Muguruza, Caroline Garcia, Iga Swiatek, Gauff and Rybakina followed, and the WTA counted Rybakina as the 10th in a row. Before 2015 the longest run of first-time champions was three, in 1997-99 and 2004-06.
A Grand Slam title has never been a requirement. Five champions had not won a major singles title through the 2026 US Open: Sylvia Hanika (1982), Radwanska, Cibulkova, Svitolina and Garcia. Seven more won the Finals before their first major:
- Evert: the Finals in 1972, then the 1974 French Open.
- Navratilova: the Finals in April 1978, then Wimbledon that July.
- Gabriela Sabatini: the Finals in 1988, then the 1990 US Open.
- Jana Novotna: the Finals in 1997, then Wimbledon in 1998.
- Clijsters: the Finals in 2002, then the 2005 US Open.
- Amelie Mauresmo: the Finals in 2005, then the 2006 Australian Open.
- Wozniacki: the Finals in 2017, then the 2018 Australian Open.
How often the top seed wins the WTA Finals
Since the event moved to the end of the season in November 1986, the No. 1 seed has won 14 of the 39 editions, 36 percent. Nine of those titles came in the 17 knockout editions through 2002; since the round robin arrived in 2003, the top seed has won 5 of 22, most recently Barty in 2019.
In the round-robin years the No. 6 seed has won six titles, more than any other: Maria Sharapova in 2004, then Wozniacki, Svitolina, Muguruza, Garcia and Rybakina. The No. 1 and No. 3 seeds have won five each and the No. 8 seed none. The only unseeded champion since 1986 came in the knockout years: Sabatini, in 1994.
Since 2000 the No. 1 seed has won 6 of 25 editions, 24 percent, about the same rate as at the majors, where the women's top seed won 26 of 107 since 2000. The player who finished the season ranked No. 1, according to the WTA's record book, won 16 of the 39 editions since November 1986.
WTA Finals round robin: champions who lost a group match
In 12 of the 22 round-robin editions the champion lost at least one group match, and Radwanska in 2015 and Cibulkova in 2016 went 1-2 in their groups before winning the title. Four champions beat in the final the player who had beaten them in the group: Mauresmo against Pierce in 2005, Justine Henin against Mauresmo in 2006, Serena Williams against Simona Halep in 2014 and Cibulkova against Angelique Kerber in 2016.
The other 10 champions went through unbeaten, most recently Swiatek in 2023 and Rybakina in 2025.
Youngest and oldest WTA Finals champions
Monica Seles was the youngest champion, at 16 years and 351 days in 1990, and won again at 17; Tracy Austin, Sharapova and Evert also won at 17. Teenagers won 11 titles in all, the last of them Sharapova in 2004.
The oldest was Serena Williams, 33 years and 30 days old at the 2014 final, after titles at 31 and 32 in the two years before. Navratilova, 30 in November 1986, is the only other champion aged 30 or older. Champions since 2000 have averaged 25.3 years, close to the 25.1 of women's Grand Slam champions in our study of their ages.
WTA Finals host cities, surfaces and five-set finals
New York staged 24 editions, all at Madison Square Garden, in 1977 and every year from 1979 to 2000; Los Angeles hosted seven and Singapore five. In all, 14 cities in nine countries have held the event, 11 of them in the 24 editions since 2001. The six editions since 2019 went to five: Shenzhen, Guadalajara, Fort Worth, Cancun and Riyadh, which hosted in 2024 and 2025.
The first two editions were played on clay; from 1974 to 2001 the event was on carpet, and it has been on hard courts since 2002. Of the 16 best-of-five finals, from 1984 to 1998, seven ended in straight sets, six in four sets and three in five: Seles against Sabatini in 1990, Graf against Anke Huber in 1995 and Graf against Martina Hingis in 1996.
The 2025 champion and the 2026 WTA Finals at Indian Wells
Rybakina won the 2025 final 6-3, 7-6(0) against Sabalenka, the world No. 1 and top seed, and finished the week 5-0 as the No. 6 seed after group wins over Amanda Anisimova, Swiatek and Ekaterina Alexandrova and a semifinal over Jessica Pegula. According to the WTA, Rybakina was the first player representing Kazakhstan, or any Asian nation, to win the title, and the $5.235 million prize was at the time the biggest payout in women's sport.
The 2026 edition, the 55th, is scheduled for November 8 to 15 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in California, the WTA announced in July, making Indian Wells the event's 15th host city. Eight singles players and eight doubles teams play in two round-robin groups of four, and the top two in each group go through to the knockout stage. Charlotte, North Carolina, follows from 2027 to 2029.
Draws and results of the tournaments in play are on the Vertize tennis scores page, the rest of the tour is in the tennis section, and our ATP Finals history covers the men's season-ending event.
WTA Finals history: frequently asked questions
Who has won the most WTA Finals titles? Martina Navratilova, with eight from 1978 to 1986, ahead of Steffi Graf and Serena Williams with five each.
Who won the 2025 WTA Finals? Elena Rybakina, who beat Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6(0) in Riyadh on November 8, 2025.
Where is the 2026 WTA Finals? At the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in California, from November 8 to 15, 2026.
Does the world No. 1 usually win the WTA Finals? No. Since November 1986 the No. 1 seed has won 14 of the 39 editions, and the player who finished the year ranked No. 1 has won 16.
Who is the youngest WTA Finals champion? Monica Seles, at 16 years and 351 days in 1990.
How this was built: every edition of the WTA's season-ending singles championship from 1972 to 2025, 54 in all. Champions, dates, cities, surfaces and dates of birth come from the WTA's official tournament records, and every match since 2000, plus the earlier finals the WTA has, from its match data. Champions' seeds come from the same data or, where it has none, from the WTA's archived draw sheets. Runners-up and scores before 2000 come from Wikipedia's page for each edition, checked against the WTA's match data or, for the 11 finals it lacks, its draw sheets; the one mismatch, the WTA's score for the 1988 final, is contradicted by its own draw sheet. Year-end No. 1s come from the WTA's record book, and Grand Slam titles, through the 2026 US Open, from Wikipedia. Ages are counted on the last day of each edition. See also our methodology. Data collected October 14, 2026.