Simona Halep finished the year as world No. 1 for the second time in her career. She won three singles tournaments during the season, including a major at the French Open. She also won a Premier 5 event, and finished runner-up at another major, the Australian Open. | |
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Duration | 30 December 2017 – 11 November 2018 |
| Edition | 48th |
| Tournaments | 58 |
| Categories | Grand Slam (4) WTA Finals WTA Premier Mandatory (4) WTA Premier 5 (5) WTA Premier (12) WTA International (31) WTA Elite Trophy |
| Achievements (singles) | |
| Most titles | |
| Most finals | |
| Prize money leader | |
| Points leader | |
| Awards | |
| Player of the year | |
| Doubles team of the year | |
| Most improved player of the year | |
| Newcomer of the year | |
| Comeback player of the year | |
← 2017 2019 → | |
The 2018 WTA Tour was the elite professional tennis circuit organised by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for the 2018 tennis season. The 2018 WTA Tour calendar comprises the Grand Slam tournaments, supervised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF); the WTA Premier tournaments (Premier Mandatory, Premier 5, and regular Premier); the WTA International tournaments; the Fed Cup (organized by the ITF) and the year-end championships (the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Elite Trophy). Also included in the 2018 calendar is the Hopman Cup, which is organized by the ITF and does not distribute ranking points.
This is the complete schedule of events on the 2018 calendar, with player progression documented from the quarterfinals stage.
| Grand Slam tournaments |
| Year-end championships |
| WTA Premier Mandatory |
| WTA Premier 5 |
| WTA Premier |
| WTA International |
| Team events |
| Week | Tournament | Champions | Runners-up | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Mar 12 Mar | Indian Wells Open Indian Wells, United States WTA Premier Mandatory Hard – $8,648,508 – 96S/48Q/32D Singles – Doubles | 6–3, 6–2 | |||
6–4, 6–4 | |||||
| 19 Mar 26 Mar | Miami Open Key Biscayne, United States WTA Premier Mandatory Hard – $8,648,508 – 96S/48Q/32D Singles – Doubles | 7–6(7–5), 6–1 | |||
6–2, 6–1 |
| Week | Tournament | Champions | Runners-up | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Nov | Fed Cup Final Prague, Czech Republic – Hard (i) |
3–0 |
These tables present the number of singles (S), doubles (D), and mixed doubles (X) titles won by each player and each nation during the season, within all the tournament categories of the 2018 WTA Tour: the Grand Slam tournaments, the year-end championships (the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Elite Trophy), the WTA Premier tournaments (Premier Mandatory, Premier 5, and regular Premier), and the WTA International tournaments. The players/nations are sorted by:
| Grand Slam tournaments |
| Year-end championships |
| WTA Premier Mandatory |
| WTA Premier 5 |
| WTA Premier |
| WTA International |
| Total | Nation | Grand Slam | Year-end | Premier Mandatory | Premier 5 | Premier | International | Total | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | D | X | S | D | S | D | S | D | S | D | S | D | S | D | X | ||
| 16 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 0 | |||||
| 12 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 0 | ||||||||
| 11 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 2 | ||||||||
| 11 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 0 | ||||||||
| 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 9 | 0 | |||||||||||
| 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 0 | |||||||||||
| 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | |||||||||
| 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 0 | |||||||||
| 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 0 | ||||||||
| 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | |||||||||
| 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | |||||||||
| 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | ||||||||||
| 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | |||||||||||
| 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||
| 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||||||||||||
The following players won their first main circuit title in singles, doubles, or mixed doubles:
The following players defended a main circuit title in singles, doubles, or mixed doubles:
The following players achieved their career high ranking in this season inside top 50 (in bold the players who entered the top 10 for the first time):
These are the WTA rankings of the top 20 singles players, doubles players, and the top 10 doubles teams on the WTA Tour, at the current date of the 2018 season.
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| Holder | Date gained | Date forfeited |
|---|---|---|
| Year end 2017 | 28 January 2018 | |
| 29 January 2018 | 25 February 2018 | |
| 26 February 2018 | Year end 2018 |
| Holder | Date gained | Date forfeited |
|---|---|---|
| Year end 2017 | 11 February 2018 | |
| 12 February 2018 | 18 February 2018 | |
| 19 February 2018 | 18 March 2018 | |
| 19 March 2018 | 10 June 2018 | |
| 11 June 2018 | 15 July 2018 | |
| 16 July 2018 | 12 August 2018 | |
| 13 August 2018 | 19 August 2018 | |
| 20 August 2018 | 21 October 2018 | |
| 22 October 2018 | Year end 2018 |
| # | Player | Singles | Doubles | Mixed | Year-to-date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $6,314,890 | $44,674 | $0 | $7,409,564 | ||
| 2 | $6,007,719 | $0 | $0 | $6,657,719 | ||
| 3 | $6,394,289 | $0 | $0 | $6,394,289 | ||
| 4 | $5,213,643 | $16,366 | $7,238 | $5,737,247 | ||
| 5 | $5,686,362 | $0 | $0 | $5,686,362 | ||
| 6 | $5,028,342 | $35,280 | $4,477 | $5,068,099 | ||
| 7 | $3,746,057 | $24,113 | $0 | $3,770,170 | ||
| 8 | $3,054,150 | $34,900 | $0 | $3,539,050 | ||
| 9 | $3,301,389 | $0 | $0 | $3,301,389 | ||
| 10 | $3,023,982 | $139,706 | $0 | $3,163,688 | ||
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as of December 4, 2018[update]
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| Category | W | F | SF | QF | R16 | R32 | R64 | R128 | Q | Q3 | Q2 | Q1 |
| Grand Slam (S) | 2000 | 1300 | 780 | 430 | 240 | 130 | 70 | 10 | 40 | 30 | 20 | 2 |
| Grand Slam (D) | 2000 | 1300 | 780 | 430 | 240 | 130 | 10 | – | 40 | – | – | – |
| WTA Finals (S) | 1500* | 1080* | 750* | (+125 per round robin match; +125 per round robin win) | ||||||||
| WTA Finals (D) | 1500 | 1080 | 750 | 375 | – | |||||||
| WTA Premier Mandatory (96S) | 1000 | 650 | 390 | 215 | 120 | 65 | 35 | 10 | 30 | – | 20 | 2 |
| WTA Premier Mandatory (64/60S) | 1000 | 650 | 390 | 215 | 120 | 65 | 10 | – | 30 | – | 20 | 2 |
| WTA Premier Mandatory (28/32D) | 1000 | 650 | 390 | 215 | 120 | 10 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| WTA Premier 5 (56S, 64Q) | 900 | 585 | 350 | 190 | 105 | 60 | 1 | – | 30 | 22 | 15 | 1 |
| WTA Premier 5 (56S, 48/32Q) | 900 | 585 | 350 | 190 | 105 | 60 | 1 | – | 30 | - | 20 | 1 |
| WTA Premier 5 (28D) | 900 | 585 | 350 | 190 | 105 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| WTA Premier 5 (16D) | 900 | 585 | 350 | 190 | 1 | - | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| WTA Premier (56S) | 470 | 305 | 185 | 100 | 55 | 30 | 1 | – | 25 | – | 13 | 1 |
| WTA Premier (32S) | 470 | 305 | 185 | 100 | 55 | 1 | – | – | 25 | 18 | 13 | 1 |
| WTA Premier (16D) | 470 | 305 | 185 | 100 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| WTA Elite Trophy (S) | 700* | 440* | 240* | (+40 per round robin match; +80 per round robin win) | ||||||||
| WTA International (32S, 32Q) | 280 | 180 | 110 | 60 | 30 | 1 | – | – | 18 | 14 | 10 | 1 |
| WTA International (32S, 24/16Q) | 280 | 180 | 110 | 60 | 30 | 1 | – | – | 18 | - | 12 | 1 |
| WTA International (16D) | 280 | 180 | 110 | 60 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
S = singles players, D = doubles teams, Q = qualification players.
* Assumes undefeated round robin match record.
| Month | Winner | Other candidates |
|---|---|---|
| January | ||
| February | ||
| March | ||
| April | ||
| May | ||
| June | ||
| July | ||
| August | ||
| September | ||
| October |
| Month | Winner | Other candidates |
|---|---|---|
| January | ||
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| October |
| Month | Winner | Other candidates |
|---|---|---|
| January | ||
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| August | ||
| September | ||
| October |
Following is a list of notable players (winners of a main tour title, and/or part of the WTA rankings top 100 [singles] or top 100 [doubles] for at least one week) who announced their retirement from professional tennis, became inactive (after not playing for more than 52 weeks), or were permanently banned from playing, during the 2018 season:
Following are notable players who will come back after retirements during the 2018 WTA Tour season: