Elena Rybakina, the top-ranked player, and world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka lead their respective singles groups for the WTA Finals, while Americans Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula landed in the same group. The draw took place Tuesday in Indian Wells, Calif.
The draw divided the eight qualifying singles and doubles teams into round-robin groups for the season-ending championships. The event begins Sunday and runs through Nov. 15 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
Each player and team will face the other three in their group over the first six days. The top two in each group advance to the semifinals.
Singles groups set
Besides defending champion Rybakina, fourth-seeded Gauff, fifth-seeded Pegula and No. 8 seed Linda Noskova are in Group 1. Rybakina, who won the U.S. Open, said she was excited about the field.
“Feeling very excited,” Rybakina said. “It’s definitely every year different. Now we’re playing outside. It’s a lot of tough players, all great champions.”
The Finals will be played outdoors for the first time since 2023, when the event was held in Cancun, Mexico.
After Sabalenka, the others in Group 2 are No. 3 seed Mirra Andreeva, No. 6 Elina Svitolina and No. 7 Karolina Muchova. Last year, Rybakina defeated Sabalenka in the final to win the title.
French Open champion Andreeva, Muchova and Wimbledon champion Noskova are making their Finals debuts.
Rybakina opens play Sunday against Noskova, followed by Gauff facing Pegula. The Americans’ all-time rivalry is tied 6-6, and Gauff won their most recent meeting in Cincinnati in August.
Sabalenka leads off Monday’s singles matches against Muchova, followed by Andreeva vs. Svitolina.
Doubles groups set
Top-seeded Gabriela Dabrowski and Luisa Stefani lead Group 1 in doubles, while second-seeded Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova are atop Group 2.
The other Group 1 teams are third-seeded Guo Hanyu and Kristina Mladenovic, fifth-seeded Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko, and seventh-seeded Elise Mertens and Zhang Shuai. Mertens won the title last year with Veronika Kudermetova, defeating Stefani, who partnered with Timea Babos.
The rest of Group 2 includes No. 4 seeds Cristina Bucsa and Nicole Melichar-Martinez, No. 6 Ellen Perez and Demi Schuurs, and No. 8 seeds Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini.
Venue change
The event is being played at the home of the BNP Paribas Open, which hosts the combined men’s and women’s tours every March. The Finals were moved to the Southern California desert from Saudi Arabia because of safety and regional security concerns tied to the Iran war.