The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has two year-ending championships in its circuit. The top-tier event is the WTA Finals, which is played between the eight best players of the season as per the rankings. A tier below comes the WTA Elite Trophy.
The WTA Elite Trophy began in 2015 and was a continuation of the WTA Tournament of Champions that was held between 2009 to 2014. The tournament has been held in Zhuhai since it’s inception.
The tournament features 12 players in singles. 11 of them are ranked between 9 to 19 in the WTA rankings at the end of the season, and one entry is a wildcard. In doubles, six teams that qualify for the event are split into two groups. The winner of each group advances to the final.
In singles, players are divided into four groups of three players each. All matches are played in a round-robin format. Group winners later clash in the knockout rounds. If the players are tied after the group stage, then the group winner is determined by the head-to-head record in the group stage. In case of a three-way tie, the number of sets won, followed by the number of games won are considered.
A match in the round-robin stage is worth 40 points and a further 80 points are awarded should the player win that round-robin match. Finalists and the Champion receive 200 and 460 points respectively on top of their round-robin tally.
The prize money for winning the WTA Elite Trophy can be as high as USD $2,20,000. No player has won the title twice in either the singles or doubles category.
