ISTANBUL, Turkey - The $6 million TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships - Istanbul 2013 will take place from October 22 to October 27 at the Sinan Erdem to conclude the WTA season.
The Top 8 players using the best of 16 ranking system, starting with the beginning of the WTA season, will qualify for the Championships. After the field has been determined, the next two players who would be accepted into the Championships, based on total WTA ranking points, will be the alternates and will step in should one of the elite eight be unable to play any of their matches. The participants will be split into two four-person round robin groups - the Red Group and the White Group - with the Top 2 in each group advancing to the semifinals.
In doubles, the Top 4 teams using the 11 best 2013 doubles results as a team, starting with the beginning of the Tour year, qualify. In order to be eligible, teams must have played together in a minimum of two WTA tournaments. It is a single-elimination draw, beginning with the semifinal round.
The event was first played in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2011 and will remain there through 2013. The Championships was first played in 1972 and since then has been held in such notable venues as Madison Square Garden, New York City; the Olympiahalle in Munich; Staples Center in Los Angeles; the Recinto Ferial Casa de Campo in Madrid and the Khalifa International Tennis Complex in Doha. The Singapore Sports Hub in Singapore will host the tournament from 2014 to 2018.
