Caroline Garcia raised the trophy as 2022 WTA Finalschampion at Fort Worth's Dickies Arena on Monday, November 7. No. 6-seed Garcia defeated No. 7-seed Aryna Sabalenka 7-6(4), 6-4 before an excited crowd in the championship match.
"I really went for it and I'm really, really happy to have win my biggest title," Garcia said.
Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens of Belgium defeated defending champs Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova of Czech Republic in a nailbiter - 6-2, 4-6, 11-9 - to earn the doubles title.
Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens (left) defeated defending double champs\u00a0Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova.
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The championship brought the week-long tournament to a rousing conclusion. The WTA Finals are the prestigious year-end finale for the Women’s Tennis Association, featuring the top eight singles players and doubles teams in the world.
Fort Worth hosted the tournament for the first time, October 31-November 7, after it was moved from Shenzhen, China. It's the first time the contest had been staged in North Texas, and the first time it was in the United States since 2005.
The top eight singles players who competed in a round robin-style tournament were:
No. 1 Iga Swiatek (Poland)
No. 2 Ons Jabeur (Tunisia)
No 3 Jessica Pegula (United States)
No. 4 Coco Gauff (United States)
No. 5 Maria Sakkari (Greece)
No. 6 Caroline Garcia (France)
No. 7 Aryna Sabalenka*
No. 8 Daria Kasatkina*
Runner-up Sabalenka received a glass sculpture created by Sinaca Glass Studios in Fort Worth.Getty Images
The total prize money pool for the tournament is $5 million. The singles winner takes home more than $1.5 million.
In addition to receiving a slightly smaller cash prize, the runners up in both singles and doubles took home beautiful glass sculptures created by Fort Worth's Sinaca Glass Studios. Everyone left Fort Worth with a cowboy hat, also presented on-court.
Championship night brought the largest and most engaged crowd of the tournament - split down the middle, it seemed, for both Garcia and Sabalenka.
"Today's atmosphere was pretty amazing," Garcia said. "I mean the fans really, like, enjoyed a lot the show. In US it's always like this, they love tennis, just love the show they give you. Right from the beginning they were really into it and I think they helped us to bring our best tennis. They were supporting both of us, and it was really nice and really respectful for everyone."
Added Sabalenka, "The atmosphere was unbelievable. I mean, I, to be honest, I didn't expect that my support for me here, and people support me a lot here, and I really enjoyed every second playing. It was, atmosphere was unbelievable. Really."
Sabalenka had stunned the tennis world when she upset top-seed and world No. 1 Swiatek in the semifinals November 6. Swiatek had dominated the tournament - not yet losing a set - as she had dominated women's tennis all year long.
Garcia had defeated Sakkari in the semifinals to make it to the championship.
(*Per WTA style, players native to Russia and Belarus do not have their country listed.)
