Women’s tennis season is slowly coming to an end, and the final stage is already set. The WTA finals this year are once again held in Riyadh and the best placed female players on the WTA rankings will fight for one last trophy of the year and a massive monetary prize. Oh, and the highest possible amount of tennis prestige is also involved. The best part of the WTA finals is the fact that they’re a celebration of the season behind us, where the players that already had the most success get to compete against each other.
As we said, the stage has already been set, and if you’re just joining now, you’ve missed on more than a few interesting matches. The tournament is already on the way, but if you’re just hearing about it, here is the most vital data you need to know.
The WTA Finals, Date & Location
Just like last season the pendulum tournament on the WTA calendar is held in Riyadh. This year’s edition will feature nine tennis players who had the best year and collected the most points throughout the year. The tournament is on schedule from November 1st till November 8th. With the majority of group stage matches behind us we are now able to make some precise WTA Final predictions, and after the Asian swing the top favorites are already well known.
The ladies who have got the right to participate are Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Amanda Anisimova, Jessica Pegula, Madison Keys, Jasmine Paolini, Ekaterina Alexandrova, and Elena Rybakina. The reason why fans love this tournament is because there are easy matches and all players are well aware of the stakes. You could see that by the initial results. Talking about those, let us quickly walk you through the happenings so far.
The Riyadh Tournament so Far
The reigning No1 Aryna Sabalenka wants to wrap up the year in style, and so far she has won all three of her matches in the group stage. The Belarusian tennis player has won all three of her matches. In the first round she took down Paolini with easy winning 2:0, and followed it up with a tougher 2:1 win against Pegula. In the last duel of the Group A, she convincingly won against Coco Gauff, cementing the first place in the group and eliminating Gauff from the competition. Group A was a tough draw for Gauff who won only one duel vs. Paolini, and lost the other two to Sabalenka and Pegula. The latter went through to the semi finals after losing to Sabalenka and winning against Gauff and Paolini. The only player to lose all of her matches in the Group A was Paolini, and she will want to put this experience behind her and get ready for the next season.
In the Group B, the one to take home all three wins was Rybakina. No one saw her dominating Group B as she did. The Kazakhstani tennis player was convincing against Anisimova and Alexandrova winning both matches 2:0. Her toughest opponent was Iga Swiatek but she managed to take home that win too by winning 2:1. Amanda Anisimova wrapped up the group stage in fashion after losing the opening match to Rybakina. She had an amazing year and proved that she is a player on the rise by winning against Keys and Swiatek, and taking second place in the group B and a trip to the semis.
The biggest disappointment of the tournament has been Iga Swiatek who opened the tournament in high spirits after defeating Madison Keys. Yet, she was not up top the standards we’re used to seeing from her, and after losing consecutive matches to Rybakina and Anisimova she had to settle for the spot No3 that does not carry the reward of going to the semi finals.
The draw for the semi finals of the 2025 Riyadh WTA finals was already made, and in one match we will have Rybakina facing Pegula, while in the one bracket Sabalenka will go against Anisimova. With the semi finals already on schedule in one day time, it is evident who the favorites to win it all are. Yet, some are bigger than the others, so let us see who can take the last trophy of the year home.
Aryna Sabalenka
Sabalenka was all over the place in 2025. There’s no doubt she is one of the best modern tennis players on the WTA tour. She plays the purest type of tennis, powered by her style and strength. She had deep runs on the majority of this year’s tourneys she played, winning events such as Miami and US Open. Yet, she showed more than a few weaknesses throughout the year, and her results at Australian open and Indian Wells showed that she can crumble under the brightest lights. Yet, after every defeat she has managed to climb back up. She ended the year as the No1 player on the WTA tour, with some impressive results late in the season. Considering just how well she played in her three outings in Riyadh, we can say that she is the favorite to win this tournament. The bookmakers think the same, and odds on Sabalenka winning her semi finals match are set at 1.44, and similar odds are to be expected in the final.
Amanda Anisimova
No one saw Anisimova wrapping up the year the way she did, but here we are. 2025 was her year and she took home titles from Doha and Beijing. If you’ve been following her on the Grand Slams of the year you know that she was more than capable of making deep runs and creating a few upsets here and there. She did the same in Riyadh and now we’re having a chance seeing her going all out against the reigning No1. The bookies are not too sure that she can take home the win against Aryna, with her odds in the semis being set at 2.63. Coming fresh from her win in China, we can see Amanda even taking the crown from Sabalenka. Yes, it would take a poor day in the office from Aryna, but also for Amanda to have her first serve and backhand work impeccably. Her style of play is ideal for indoor courts and fast surfaces and that’s what she’s been proving in Riyadh so far. Anisimova has been close to perfect in the WTA finals, and the only reason we do not see her going past her semi finals challenge is the fact that Aryna Sabalenka has been perfect so far, and we believe that this tournament is here to lose.
Jessica Pegula
What works in Jessica Pegula’s favour in WTA finals is her semis draw and the fact that once she starts playing in rhythm, consistency is what you can always expect from her. She found her rhythm in Riyadh and now the road to final is open as she is facing Elena Rybakina whom she can parry on the fast courts of Riyadh. What you can always say about Jessica is that she wins against players she can beat. This year she has been solid at the biggest tournaments, winning Austin, and creating issues for the top brass of the WTA tour on a consistent basis. If she can create clean strike zones with her backhands, you can expect to see her in the finals. While this is our opinion, the bookies do not share it. In the second semis of the WTA finals the favoured one is Elena Rybakina. The Kazakhstani player has her odds of winning the Riyadh semi finals set at 1.57. Pegula’s odds are set at 2.25. While the bookmaker does not favour Pegula, in our opinion she has the power to take one match from her opponent.
Elena Rybakina
Rybakina was the last addition to the WTA finals and she took on the given opportunity with open arms. With three wins in the group stage, Elena has shown that she is deservedly in Riyadh. Earlier in the year it appeared that she will not make it to the top eight on the WTA tour but with a string of great results later in the year, she finds herself on an amazing trajectory going into the last tournament of the year and the next season. So far during the tournament Rybakina has shown that she has a cool head on her shoulders, and when paired with a great serve she is hard to stop. With titles in Strasbourg and Ningbo she has proven once again that she belongs at the top of WTA rankings. She is a hard court player thorough and thorough but she will have a highly motivated Pegula against her. The Bookies believe that Rybakina has what it takes to make it to the finals with her odds being set at 1.57. as far as we’re concerned she has had an amazing tournament, but it will end in the semi finals of the WTA finals.
Ranking Points and Prize money at 2025 Riyadh WTA Finals
While tennis matches at this stage of the competition are always played predominantly for prestige, WTA points, and finally the money, we can’t say that the prize pool at this tournament didn’t swipe us off our feet. The total amount available to the players is set at $15.5 million. $3.1 million of that sum goes to the doubles, while $12.4 million is shared among the singles. The winner, if she wraps the tournament up without a single loss, will take home $5.235 million. A champion that loses a single match needs to be satisfied with measly $4.88 million.
As far as points go, the round robin win earns each player 200 points. Those that go to the semi finals receive 400 points, while the final gives the players 500 points. If a player wins the tournament undefeated the points total amounts to 1.500 points. As you can see, this is an important tournament on the WTA tour in terms of both the prize money and the points total allocated to the winner. With only few matches left to be played, the likes of Sabalenka, Pegula, Rybakina, and Anisimova can really do themselves the favour in both their end o f the year rankings and purse they’ll take home.
Past Winners
The WTA finals are a peculiar tournament. We haven’t had a repeated winner since Serena Williams who has won it five times in her career. Last year’s winner, Coco Gauff hasn’t made it out of the group stage this year. The same can be said for Iga Swiatek who has won it back in 2023. Jessica Pegula who lost the final in 2023 now has a chance to get back to the final and try to win the much coveted tournament.
The winner from 2022 Caroline Garcia is no longer active, but her win three years ago came at the expense of Aryna Sabalenka so we are sure that the Belarusian player will be looking to finally get her hands on the trophy in the WTA finals. As we go back more in the past the list of winners gets even more obscure with plenty of players no longer competing at the highest level. Among the players who have won it in the last ten years are Garbiñe Muguruza, Ashleigh Barty, Elina Svitolina, Dominika Cibulková, Caroline Wozniacki, and Agnieszka Radwańska. The last nine winners of the WTA finals have only succeeded winning the trophy once.
Considering that we have four players in the semi finals that have never won it in their careers, the WTA finals are set to have a new winner once again. The semi finals are on schedule on November 7th, while the great final is scheduled for November 8th. With only two days of top female tennis for this year scheduled, we’re sure you will follow through on the action at the WTA finals in Riyadh.
