Iga Swiatek & Serena Williams celebrate winning the WTA Finals
Iga Swiatek & Serena Williams celebrate winning the WTA Finals
Martina Navratilova and Serena Williams are the only players to win the WTA Finals without losing a set on multiple occasions.
Here, we look at the five women who have won the year-end championships without dropping a set.
Martina Navratilova – 1984, 1985
In 1984, Martina Navratilova became the first woman to win the WTA Finals without losing a single set en route to the title.
The Czech-American downed Virginia Ruzici, Carling Bassett and Pam Shriver before she saw off Chris Evert in the final.
Navratilova repeated the feat the following year when she overcame Lisa Bonder, Shriver, Hana Mandlikova, and Helena Sukova.
In both these years, the year-end championships — which was staged in New York — featured 16 players and was played over four knockout rounds with a best-of-five set final.
WTA Features
The 10 women with most WTA Finals titles: Martina Navratilova with 8, Serena Williams joint second
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The 5 women with the highest WTA Finals win percentage: Serena Williams with 82.9%, Steffi Graf 3rd
Gabriela Sabatini – 1988
The same format was used at the 1988 WTA Finals when Gabriela Sabatini became the second player to not drop a set en route to the title.
The Argentine defeated Katerina Maleeva, Natasha Zvereva, Sukova — and Shriver in a five-set championship match — during her run in New York.
Serena Williams – 2001, 2012
The 16-player, knockout-only format remained in place at the 2001 WTA Finals in Munich as Serena Williams won the event for the first time.
The American did not lose a set in her victories over Silvia Farina Elia, Justine Henin and Sandrine Testud before receiving a walkover over Lindsay Davenport, who she was due to face in the final.
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In 2012, Williams won the WTA Finals in the eight-player round robin and knockout format that is still used at the event. She downed Victoria Azarenka, Angelique Kerber, Li Na, Agnieszka Radwanska and Maria Sharapova during her campaign in Istanbul.
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Kim Clijsters – 2002
Kim Clijsters secured the first of her three WTA Finals crowns at the 2002 edition of the event in Los Angeles.
The Belgian earned straight-set knockout wins against Chanda Rubin, Henin, Venus Williams (who retired in the first set) and Serena Williams.
Iga Swiatek – 2023
Iga Swiatek won her maiden title at the year-end championships in 2023 — and she did not drop a set in her five matches Cancun.
The Pole downed Coco Gauff, Ons Jabeur and Marketa Voundrousova in the round robin stage before she overcame Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals and Jessica Pegula in the final.
READ NEXT: Iga Swiatek responds to criticism of ‘extremely disappointing’ WTA Finals crowds
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