WTA Finals Year-End Championships Field Complete

The Field of 8 is complete, and the WTA Finals Year-End Championships arrive on November 1, and it will be a wild week of tennis in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Elena Rybakina clinched her spot on October 23, completing the field of eight ladies competing for major money, major respect, and one helluva trophy in the first week of November, and the excitement is building.

Here is the list of 8 players set to compete in this year’s WTA Finals, and the dates their positions were clinched.

1 Russia Aryna Sabalenka – July 8
2 Poland Iga Świątek – August 17
3 United States Coco Gauff – September 30
4 United States Amanda Anisimova – October 2
5 United States Madison Keys – October 2
6 United States Jessica Pegula – October 13
7 Italy Jasmine Paolini – October 18
8 Kazakhstan Elena Rybakina – October 23

Yes, I know, Aryna Sabalenka is not officially listed as Russian due to that situation, but I will use it for that list.

So, how about this field?

Coco Gauff is the defending champion, and boy, did she get richer than she already was after the run to the WTA Finals trophy.

Gauff became the first American since Serena Williams in 2014 to win the Year-End Championships, and set a record with her win in Saudi Arabia last season, a total of $4.805 million, to be exact.

Coco earned her spot on September 30th and is eyeing a second WTA Finals trophy to become the 8th woman in the history of this event to have done it in back-to-back seasons. Chrissy Evert won the first two WTA Finals Year-End Championships in 1972 & 73, and only 3 women have won three or more straight titles… Martina Navratilova, Monica Seles, and Serena Williams.

Iga Swiatek won the 2023 competition, making her and Coco the only former winners playing in this year’s WTA Finals.

Jasmine Paolini is competing in her second consecutive WTA Finals, and last year she competed in both Singles and Doubles at the Year-End Championships.

Jessica Pegula qualified for last year’s WTA Finals, played in two matches, but had to withdraw her name from the event due to a nagging knee injury that held her out of the beginning of the 2025 season.

Mirra Andreeva and Ekaterina Alexandrova are listed as the alternates for this year’s event, and the former let her chance go by, faltering late in the season. Andreeva was solidly holding the 7-seed until Paolini and Rybakina passed her by with late runs in the last few higher-level events.

So, let’s talk odds now!

Let’s start with the outright odds on the winner of this whole shabang.

Swiatek, Iga +115

Sabalenka, Aryna +180

Anisimova, Amanda +229

Gauff, Coco +400

Rybakina, Elena +675

Keys, Madison +700

Pegula, Jessica +900

Paolini, Jasmine +1600

Despite securing the #1 ranking in the world entering Riyadh, Aryna Sabalenka is listed behind Iga Swiatek even after clinching her way into this event back in July!

Group Stage begins on November 1, and here is how that shapes up.

Steffi Graf Group
Sabalenka
Gauff
Pegula
Paolini

Serena Williams Group
Swiatek
Anisimova
Rybakina
Keys

And the matches for the first set of games have lines already available.

Iga Swiatek is heavily favored at -400 to get past Keys in their first group stage match, but the other game on Saturday is expected to be a much tighter affair.

Anisimova and Rybakina are each listed at -110 to win the match, so it’s flip a coin time!

Sabalenka is at -300 on November 2nd against Paolini, and Coco is listed at -180 to get past Jess Pegula in their opening group stage affair.

All eight ladies will be in action on November 3 for the second match of group stage play.

So what bets am I on before the tourney starts?

I will tell you that one of my favorite prop bets is going on the board for the Rybakina vs Anisimova clash.

Those two are going to give us a three-match thriller, and the +135 odds on the Over 2.5 sets prop suit me just fine!

Madison Keys hasn’t played a lick of tennis in two months, and her last outing at the US Open was a full-blown disaster. Losing to Renata Zarazua in the first round and then taking two months off could have a big effect on her mindset.

I will take Iga Swiatek and the -2.5 game handicap in the first set against Keys, because Keys was constantly starting slow all too often as her regular-season action was winding down in August.

Who will win the event and hoist the hardware? As much as I would love to see my fellow Italian win this show, the odds on Paolin to actually pull it off should be higher than +1600. No one expects Jasmine to get much accomplished in Riyadh, but don’t tell her that!

Coco at +400 to repeat is inviting, but if anyone is going to do it, it is Aryna Sabalenka. Despite that damn service game that tends to fly away, Aryna will be focused and be your WTA Finals champion! At +180, there is a semblance of value left on the bone, and not being favored is actually an advantage since it takes the pressure off to win every damn point!

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