Women with the most WTA Finals trophies
The showpiece event in the WTA Calendar is the WTA Finals held annually in the month of October/November. The Top-8 singles and doubles pairs battle it out in a round robin format before the knockout rounds. The first edition of the tournament was held in 1972 and since then multiple cities have hosted the event.
The prize money and ranking points awarded in this tournament are second only to the Grand Slams. The Singles Trophy presented to the winner is called 'Billie Jean King Trophy' named after the eponymous American tennis great.
A total of 7.5 million USD is awarded in prize money to the players, with the winner taking home a cool 1.75 million USD.
The recently concluded 2018 edition of the tournament saw Ukranian Elina Svitolina emerge victorious for the first time. The tournament will move to Shenzhen, China the next year. We take a look at the women with the most WTA Final trophies :
#5 Kim Clijsters
Belgian legend Kim Clijsters is one of 3 women to have won a Grand Slam in the Open Era after becoming a mother. In fact, she won more Grand Slams after becoming a mother than before. Having attained the Number 1 ranking in the WTA Tour, Clijsters's tennis career spanned 15 years.
Her rivalry with fellow Belgian legend Justine Henin is the stuff of legend. Clijsters' first Grand Slam came at the 2005 US Open. Clijsters retired in 2007 and made a comeback in 2009, and won the US Open that year in what was only her third title since her comeback.
She successfully defended her title at the US Open the following year and also won the 2011 Australian Open. Clijsters won 41 WTA Singles titles including 3 WTA Finals trophies in 2002, 2003 and 2010.
#5 Monica Seles
Monica Seles won an astounding 8 Grand Slam Singles titles as a teenager. In all, Seles won 51 WTA titles , 9 Grand Slam Singles titles, and an Olympic bronze medal in Singles at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
She also helped Yugoslavia win the Hopman Cup and later won 3 Fed Cup titles with Team USA after having acquired US citizenship. Seles won 3 WTA Final tournaments in 1990, 1991 and 1992.