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The season-ending tournament begins today in Cancun for the WTA Tour. Of course, I am referencing the 2023 WTA Finals – an eight-player event in which the winner is crowned as the Queen for this season. As for what information will be given here, first and foremost, you’re about to discover the full WTA Finals schedule for this year. And since this tournament works a little differently than pretty much all others on tour, this information is useful to have.
Additionally, I’ve provided the opening WTA Finals order of play, which shows us the first few matches that are on the cards in Mexico. Naturally, the WTA Finals schedule shared below also details what rounds are played on which day, who is competing in what group, and more. And in case you needed any confirmation regarding the excitement of this event, not only is the Queen of the Season title on the line, but so too is the number one ranking!
All of that is coming up this week, but let’s get a little more specific now.
2023 WTA Finals schedule overview
Contents
If you haven’t yet tracked this tournament, I can tell you right off the bat that the action starts today. That’s right – the opening matches for the 2023 WTA Finals are due to be played tonight (UK time). So based on that, the full WTA Finals schedule is set to run from Sunday, October 29th to Sunday, November 5th. This is true for the singles event and the WTA Finals doubles event, so you can track both over the coming seven days. There is nothing to worry about in terms of the level of tennis either, for the top eight players on the singles and doubles tours are competing in Cancun, as mentioned previously.
Yet this just gives you a general overview of the WTA Finals schedule. How about what you can expect on specific days throughout the week? I’ve got that covered right here.
Round Robin matches
If you haven’t familiarized yourself with what this tournament is all about yet, I’d recommend reading through our 2023 WTA Finals preview. But since you’re here, I can give you the quick scoop to ensure this information makes sense. In line with the WTA Finals schedule, this event begins in a round-robin format, with the eight players split into two groups of four. The four players in each group compete against one another (one match vs each player), and the top two finishers go through to the knockout stages.
However, since there are two groups, the WTA Finals order of play tends to chop and change on a daily basis, with alternating groups playing each day. Therefore, it’s important to know which groups are competing and on what days this week:
- Sunday, October 29th – Bacalar Group Round Robin
- Monday, October 30th – Chetumal Group Round Robin
- Tuesday, October 31st – Bacalar Group Round Robin
- Wednesday, November 1st – Chetumal Group Round Robin
- Thursday, November 2nd – Bacalar Group Round Robin
- Friday, November 3rd – Chetumal Group Round Robin
Knock-out matches & finals
Following the completion of all round-robin matches from Sunday, October 29th to Friday, November 3rd, we then move to the knock-out stages. As mentioned above, the knockout stages consist of the top two finishers in each group. So when we reach this point, the winner of the Bacalar Group will play the runner-up from the Chetumal Group, and the winner of the Chetumal Group will play the runner-up from the Bacalar Group.
These are the semi-finals, and the winners of such matches will then compete for the title. As for the individual WTA Finals schedule concerning the days of play, here they are:
- Saturday, November 4th – semi-finals
- Sunday, November 5th – finals
2023 WTA Finals order of play – day 1 and day 2 covered
Following the release of the draw for the 2023 WTA Finals late on Friday night, we needed to wait a short while for the exact WTA Finals order of play to be released. However, this has finally come through for the opening two days of the tournament, which is why I’ve been able to confirm these lineups below.
Day One – WTA Finals order of play: Sunday, October 29th
For day one, the matches will begin at around 19:30 UK time, and all games are set to be played on Estadio Paradisus. As for the full lineup, here we go:
- Aoyama/Shibahara vs Krawczyk/Schuurs
- Rybakina vs Pegula
- Sabalenka vs Sakkari
- Gauff/Pegula vs Dabrowski/Routliffe
Day Two – WTA Finals order of play: Monday, October 30th
Glancing ahead to day two, the WTA Finals schedule remains steady, with four matches on the cards. Once again, all matches are set to be held on Estadio Paradisus, and the same order is seen in terms of when the doubles and singles games will be played. Play should start at around 19:30 UK time, and the four scheduled matches are as follows:
- Hunter/Mertens vs Aoyama/Shibahara
- Swiatek vs Vondrousova
- Gauff vs Jabeur
- Krawczyk/Schuurs vs Melichar-Martinez
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