WTA Tour Championships

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Sports events

The WTA Tour Championships is a tennis tournament played annually at the end of the season for the top-ranked players on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) tour.

The championships were held for the first time in 1972 at Boca Raton, Florida (USA). From 1972- 1986, the event was held in March. The WTA then decided to adopt a January-to-November playing season, and so the event was switched to being held at the end of each year. Because of this changeover, two championships were held in 1986. From 1979- 2000, the event was held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The event then briefly moved to Germany ( 2001). More recently, it has been held in Los Angeles, California ( 2002- 2005). The 2006 edition was held in Madrid, Spain, the site of the 2007 tournament as well.

From 1972- 1994, the event was known as the Virginia Slims Championships. Since then it has been officially known by the names of other sponsors (it was called the Chase Championships for a few years in the late-1990s), but is more commonly referred to as the "WTA Tour Championships".

From 1984- 1998, the final of the championships was a best-of-five-set match – making it the only tournament on the women's tour to have a best-of-five-set match at any round of the competition. In 1999, the final was reverted to being a best-of-three-set match.

The WTA Tour Championships are generally considered to be the fifth most prestigious event on the women's tour after the four Grand Slam tournaments.

Past Results

Singles

Year	Venue	Champion	Runner-up	Score in final
2007	Madrid
2006	Madrid	Justine Henin-Hardenne	Amélie Mauresmo	6-4, 6-3
2005	Los Angeles	Amélie Mauresmo	Mary Pierce	5-7, 7-6, 6-4
2004	Los Angeles	Maria Sharapova	Serena Williams	4-6, 6-2, 6-4
2003	Los Angeles	Kim Clijsters	Amélie Mauresmo	6-2, 6-0
2002	Los Angeles	Kim Clijsters	Serena Williams	7-5, 6-3
2001	Munich	Serena Williams	Lindsay Davenport	w/o (injury)
2000	New York	Martina Hingis	Monica Seles	6-7, 6-4, 6-4
1999	New York	Lindsay Davenport	Martina Hingis	6-4, 6-2
1998	New York	Martina Hingis	Lindsay Davenport	7-5, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
1997	New York	Jana Novotná	Mary Pierce	7-6, 6-2, 6-3
1996	New York	Steffi Graf	Martina Hingis	6-3, 4-6, 6-0, 4-6, 6-0
1995	New York	Steffi Graf	Anke Huber	6-1, 2-6, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3
1994	New York	Gabriela Sabatini	Lindsay Davenport	6-3, 6-2, 6-4
1993	New York	Steffi Graf	Arantxa Sanchez Vicario	6-1, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
1992	New York	Monica Seles	Martina Navrátilová	7-5, 6-3, 6-1
1991	New York	Monica Seles	Martina Navrátilová	6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 6-0
1990	New York	Monica Seles	Gabriela Sabatini	6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
1989	New York	Steffi Graf	Martina Navrátilová	6-4, 7-5, 2-6, 6-2
1988	New York	Gabriela Sabatini	Pam Shriver	7-5, 6-2, 6-2
1987	New York	Steffi Graf	Gabriela Sabatini	4-6, 6-4, 6-0, 6-4
1986 (2)	New York	Martina Navrátilová	Steffi Graf	7-6, 6-3, 6-2
1986 (1)	New York	Martina Navrátilová	Hana Mandlíková	6-2, 6-0, 3-6, 6-1
1985	New York	Martina Navrátilová	Helena Suková	6-3, 7-5, 6-4
1984	New York	Martina Navrátilová	Chris Evert	6-3, 7-5, 6-1
1983	New York	Martina Navrátilová	Chris Evert	6-2, 6-0
1982	New York	Sylvia Hanika	Martina Navrátilová	1-6, 6-3, 6-4
1981	New York	Martina Navrátilová	Andrea Jaeger	6-3, 7-6
1980	New York	Tracy Austin	Martina Navrátilová	6-2, 2-6, 6-2
1979	New York	Martina Navrátilová	Tracy Austin	6-3, 3-6, 6-2
1978	Boca Raton	Martina Navrátilová	Evonne Goolagong	7-6, 6-4
1977	Boca Raton	Chris Evert	Sue Barker	2-6, 6-1, 6-1
1976	Boca Raton	Evonne Goolagong	Chris Evert	6-3, 5-7, 6-3
1975	Boca Raton	Chris Evert	Martina Navrátilová	6-4, 6-2
1974	Boca Raton	Evonne Goolagong	Chris Evert	6-3, 6-4
1973	Boca Raton	Chris Evert	Nancy Richey	6-3, 6-3
1972	Boca Raton	Chris Evert	Kerry Reid	7-5, 6-4

Doubles Champions