Four players from the United States have secured their spots in the exclusive year-end championships in Cancun, Mexico. American tennis stars Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula will be participating in the prestigious WTA Finals, which will be broadcasted live on Tennis Channel from October 29 to November 5. The tournament features the top eight singles players and doubles teams based on the points they accumulated throughout the 2023 season. The event kicks off on October 29 at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Gauff, who recently won the US Open singles title, is currently ranked No. 3 in singles and No. 4 in doubles. Pegula is also the No. 4 player in doubles, partnering with Gauff, and the No. 4 singles player. Both players qualified for the tournament for the first time in 2022 and will once again compete in both singles and doubles.
The WTA Finals is a showcase of the year’s top performers, with the eight singles players divided into two pools of four. Each player will face off against the other members of their group, and the top two players from each pool will advance to the single-elimination semifinals and final. The same format applies to the year’s best doubles teams.
This round-robin format ensures that the event features matches between the top players of the year, with the possibility of rematches from major finals or semifinals earlier in the season. The tournament offers not only the chance to win the WTA Finals trophy but also the opportunity to secure a year-end No. 1 ranking and a place in tennis history.
Tennis Channel’s coverage of the WTA Finals will include over 50 live hours and 30 hours of encore replays. Matches will begin at 3:30 p.m. ET every day, except for November 5 when the singles and doubles finals will start at 5:30 p.m. ET. Each day will consist of four matches – two singles and two doubles – played in a round-robin format until November 4. On that day, there will be two singles and two doubles semifinals to determine the finalists for November 5.
Tennis Channel will broadcast the WTA Finals as part of its worldwide Center Court coverage, alongside live telecasts from the men’s Paris Masters tournament. Any matches not shown live on the network can be streamed on the subscription service Tennis Channel Plus, with all WTA Finals matches available on-demand after they conclude.
Former tennis player and Hall of Famer Lindsay Davenport will serve as a Tennis Channel analyst during the event, alongside announcer and former player Chanda Rubin. Rubin, who reached the WTA Finals in 2003, is the 1996 Australian Open doubles champion. CoCo Vandeweghe, who recently retired, will be part of the tournament-desk team, conducting player and guest interviews with Tennis Channel host Steve Weissman. Vandeweghe, known for her tenacity on the court, was admired for her candidness and humor with reporters and fans.
Apart from Gauff and Pegula, Desirae Krawczyk and Nicole Melichar-Martinez, both Americans, have also qualified for the WTA Finals in doubles. Krawczyk, ranked No. 11 in the world, won three doubles titles in 2023 and was a former doubles finalist at the French Open. Melichar-Martinez, ranked No. 23, boasts over a dozen doubles championships and has reached the finals at Wimbledon and the US Open.
Among the notable non-US contenders at this year’s WTA Finals are Aryna Sabalenka, the world No. 1 singles player who faced off against Gauff in the US Open singles championship, and Iga Swiatek, the world No. 2 who has won the past two Roland Garros singles titles. Additionally, Ons Jabeur, world No. 7 and a fan-favorite, is the first Arab or African woman to reach a Grand Slam final in the Open Era.
Below is the complete schedule for Tennis Channel’s live coverage of the 2023 WTA Finals:
– Sunday, Oct. 29: 3:30 p.m. – Singles, Doubles Round Robin
– Monday, Oct. 30: 3:30 p.m. – Singles, Doubles Round Robin
– Tuesday, Oct. 31: 3:30 p.m. – Singles, Doubles Round Robin
– Wednesday, Nov. 1: 3:30 p.m. – Singles, Doubles Round Robin
– Thursday, Nov. 2: 3:30 p.m. – Singles, Doubles Round Robin
– Friday, Nov. 3: 3:30 p.m. – Singles, Doubles Round Robin
– Saturday, Nov. 4: 3:30 p.m. – Singles, Doubles Semifinals
– Sunday, Nov. 5: 4:30 p.m. – Singles, Doubles Finals
