Fort Worth to host stars of women’s tennis for the WTA Finals at Dickies Arena

Brayden Garcia
Andy Brownbill/AP

Eight of the best women tennis players in the world are competing at Dickies Arena next week, including Americans Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula.

The Women’s Tennis Association is hosting its finals event at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth from Oct. 31 to Nov. 7. Dickies Arena has hosted many events since it opened in 2019, but this is the first time tennis matches have been played at the venue.

Eight of the world’s top-ranked singles players and double teams will compete in three round robin matches to advance to the semifinals and the final. The total prize money for the WTA Finals is $5 million split over the tournament.

Started in 1973, the WTA was founded by former tennis player Billie Jean King on the principle of equal opportunity in the sport. Nearly 50 years later, the WTA is one of the biggest tennis tournaments in the world outside of the four majors: Wimbledon, U.S. Open, French Open and Australian Open.

Typically, the WTA Finals are held in Shenzen, China but the organization announced the tournament move in response to the country’s handling of Peng Shuai, the Chinese women’s tennis player who in November of 2021 accused a high-ranking member of China’s communist party of sexual assault.

All eyes in the tennis world will be on Fort Worth next week for the WTA Finals. Here’s a preview of what to expect:

Singles tournament

The eight female players in the WTA Finals singles tournament are:

Iga Swiatek

  • Age: 21

  • Home country: Poland

  • World singles ranking: One

Swiatek’s last appearance at the WTA Finals was in 2021 in the group stage, where she went 1-2 in three matches, missing the semifinals. In 2022, Swiatek has had an impressive tennis season winning two of the four majors, including both the U.S. Open and French Open.

Ons Jabeur

  • Age: 28

  • Home country: Tunisia

  • World singles ranking: Two

Jabeur is making her WTA Finals debut at this year’s tournament. However, Jabeur is not new to the organization, having won a WTA 1000 Madrid singles event earlier this year. Jabeur was also the runner up at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

Jessica Pegula

  • Age: 28

  • Home country: U.S.

  • World singles ranking: Three

Pegula is making her WTA Finals debut this year at the tournament. Pegula won the WTA 1000 Guadalajara tournament earlier this year.

Coco Gauff

  • Age: 18

  • Home country: U.S.

  • World singles ranking: Four

Gauff is making her WTA Finals debut at this year’s tournament. At 18 years old, Gauff is the youngest player in the WTA Finals since Maria Sharapova in 2004. Gauff also finished as the runner up at this year’s French Open

Maria Sakkari

  • Age: 27

  • Home country: Greece

  • World singles ranking: Five

Sakkari’s last appearance at the WTA Finals was in the 2021 semifinals where she lost to eventual runner-up, Anett Kontaveit. Sakkari just made it into the tournament, securing the last spot in the tournament on Friday.

Caroline Garcia

  • Age: 29

  • Home country: France

  • World singles ranking: Six

Garcia’s last WTA Finals appearance was in the 2017 semifinal round. Garcia has secured three singles titles in 2022 and reached the first Grand Slam semifinal of her career at the U.S. Open.

Aryna Sabalenka

  • Age: 24

  • Home country: Belarus

  • World singles ranking: Seven

Sabalenka’s last appearance at the WTA Finals was in 2021 during the group stage. Sabalenka made it to the semifinal round of the U.S. Open in both 2021 and 2022, and Wimbledon in 2021.

Daria Kasatkina

  • Age: 25

  • Home country: Russia

  • World singles ranking: Eight

Kasatkina is making her WTA Finals debut this year. Kasatkina picked up two singles titles this year in San Jose and Granby.

Doubles tournament

The 16 female players in the WTA Finals doubles tournament are:

Katerina Siniakova and Barbora Krejcikova

  • Ages: 26 and 26

  • Home countries: Czech Republic

  • World doubles rankings: One and four

Siniakova and Krejcikova are the reigning WTA Finals doubles champions. The pair won in 2021 and were runner ups at the 2018 WTA Finals.

Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula

  • Ages: 18 and 28

  • Home countries: U.S. and U.S.

  • World doubles rankings: Two and three

Gauff and Pegula are making their doubles debut at this year’s WTA Finals. Along with playing in the doubles tournament, the pair will also play in the singles event.

Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens

  • Ages: 25 and 26

  • Home countries: Russia and Belgium

  • World doubles rankings: Five and nine

Kudermetova is making her debut at the WTA Finals doubles this year, while Mertens is making her fourth appearance. Mertens has now made it to WTA Finals in doubles in four consecutive years, finishing as the finals runner up in 2021 with partner Hsieh Su-Wei.

Gabriela Dabrowski and Giuliana Olmos

  • Ages: 30 and 29

  • Home countries: Canada and Mexico

  • World doubles rankings: Six and seven

Dabrowski and Olmos have both made it to the WTA Finals before, but this will be their debut together as a pair. This year will mark Dabrowski’s fourth appearance at the WTA Finals and Olmos’ second after playing with Sharon Fichman in 2021.

Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko

  • Ages: 30 and 25

  • Home countries: Ukraine and Latvia

  • World doubles rankings: 10 and 15

Kichenok and Ostapenko are making their WTA Finals doubles debut at this year’s tournament. The pair have won two titles this year, the WTA 1000 Western and Southern in Cincinnati and WTA 250 Rothesay Classic in Birmingham.

Yang Zhaoxuan and Xu Yifan

  • Ages: 27 and 34

  • Home countries: China and China

  • World doubles ranking: 11 and 17

Zhaoxuan and Yifan are making their WTA Finals doubles debut. The pair started playing together in 2021.

Desirae Krawczyk and Demi Schuurs

  • Ages: 28 and 39

  • Home countries: U.S. and the Netherlands

  • World doubles rankings: 20 and 21

Krawczyk was last at the WTA Finals in 2021, making it to the group stage. This is Schuurs fourth consecutive WTA Finals, after finishing in the semifinals in 2019 and 2021.

The final spot in the WTA Finals doubles tournament has yet to be announced by the organization.

Tickets and schedule

Tickets are on sale now for the WTA Finals.

Prices range from $20 to $300. Tickets are on sale for each day of the tournament and can be purchased online.

The semifinals matches will be played Nov. 6 and the final round matches on Nov. 7.

Dickies Arena has both an onsite parking garage and street parking around the venue. Dickies Arena is located at 1911 Montgomery St.

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