2013 WTA Finals
| 2013 WTA Tour Championships | |
|---|---|
| Date | 22 – 27 October |
| Edition | 43rd (singles) / 38th (doubles) |
| Draw | 8S/4D |
| Surface | Hard |
| Location | Istanbul, Turkey |
| Venue | Sinan Erdem Dome |
| Champions | |
| Singles | |
 Serena Williams
|
|
| Doubles | |
 Hsieh Su-wei /  Peng Shuai
|
|
The 2013 WTA Tour Championships was a 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.
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.
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.
The final standings of each group were determined by the first of the following methods that applied:
The doubles competition had four teams playing in a straight knockout format from the semifinal stage.
The total prize money for the 2013 WTA Championships was US$6,000,000.
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.
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