The year's best singles and doubles tennis players convene in Indian Wells, California, for the WTA Finals.
Eight women will compete in a round-robin format for the title. This year's tournament stops in Indian
Wells before heading to Charlotte, North Carolina, for the next three years.
Australian Open and U.S. Open champion Elena Rybakina has already wrapped up the year-end No. 1 ranking, but she will not get a chance to defend her 2025 WTA Finals crown after announcing her withdrawal from the tournament due to an undisclosed medical condition. Marta Kostyuk will replace her in this year's tournament and will take on Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova
No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka is seeking revenge after losing to Rybakina in the finals of those tournaments and at last year's WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The opening day highlight features Americans Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula, who have five wins each in 10 head-to-head matches. But Gauff has won the last two meetings, at this year's Wimbledon quarterfinals and the Cincinnati final.
WTA Finals schedule and dates
Dates: Nov. 8-15, 2026
Location: Indian Wells, California
Venue: Indian Wells Tennis Garden
Surface: Outdoor hard court
Group 1 (Round-robin matches played on Nov. 8, Nov. 10, Nov. 12)
- Marta Kostyuk, Ukraine
- (4) Coco Gauff, United States
- (5) Jessica Pegula, United States
- (8) Linda Noskova, Czechia
Group 2 (Round-robin matches played on Nov. 9, Nov. 11, Nov. 13)
- (2) Aryna Sabalenka
- (3) Mirra Andreeva
- (6) Elina Svitolina, Ukraine
- (7) Karolína Muchová, Czechia
2026 WTA Finals format
Matches are played in a round-robin format between two groups of four. The top two players from each group advance.
Each player faces the other three players in their group and earns standings points based on their results, where a win is worth three points. In Group ties, the head-to-head winner gets the advantage. In a three-way tie, the tiebreaker is determined by matches played, highest percentage of sets won, and highest percentage of games won.
The top two players from each group then advance to the semifinals, where those winners meet in the championship.
WTA Finals schedule – Nov. 8
- (8) Linda Noskova vs. Marta Kostyuk
- (4) Coco Gauff vs. (5) Jessica Pegula
WTA Finals schedule – Nov. 9
- (2) Aryna Sabalenka vs. (7) Karolina Muchova
- (3) Mirra Andreeva vs. (6) Elina Svitolina
2026 WTA Finals prize money
The WTA Finals prize pool is $10 million, including $8 million for singles competitors. An undefeated singles champion would earn $3.37 million and 1,500 ranking points.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coco Gauff vs Jessica Pegula headlines WTA Finals opening day: Draw, format, everything to know
