page_title: 2012 WTA Tour Championships
section_title: Singles
hierarchical_section_title: 2012 WTA Tour Championships / Qualified players / Singles
caption_attribution_description: Li Na at the Sony Ericsson Open
context_page_description: The 2012 WTA Tour Championships was a tennis tournament played at Istanbul, Turkey from October 23 to October 28, 2012. It was the 42nd edition of the singles event and the 37th edition of the doubles competition. The tournament was held at the Sinan Erdem Dome and was contested by eight singles players and four doubles teams. It was the larger of two season ending championships on the 2012 WTA Tour.
  The tournament featured the top eight singles players and the top four doubles teams in the race to Istanbul.
  Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Agnieszka Radwańska, Angelique Kerber, Petra Kvitová, Sara Errani and Li Na qualified for the singles competition. Kvitová withdrew from the championships after one match and was replaced by Sam Stosur. Radwańska and Errani's round robin match set the record for the longest match in WTA Tour Championships history within the best-of-three system. Azarenka, Sharapova, Williams and Radwańska qualified from the red and white groups for the semifinals.
context_section_description: On September 6, Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova became the first two players to qualify for the championships.
  Victoria Azarenka started the year strongly, winning the Apia International Sydney over Li Na, 6–2, 1–6, 6–3. She then followed this up by winning her maiden grand slam at the Australian Open, defeating Maria Sharapova, 6–3, 6–0. With the win, she claimed the no. 1 ranking for the first time. Her winning streak continued in the Qatar Total Open. She won the title without dropping a set, beating Samantha Stosur, 6–1, 6–2 in the final. She then won her fourth title of the year at the BNP Paribas Open, once again defeating Sharapova, 6–2, 6–3. Her streak ended when she was defeated by Marion Bartoli in the quarterfinals of Sony Ericsson Open. During the clay season, she reached back-to-back finals, in Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, losing to Sharapova, 1–6, 4–6, and the Mutua Madrid Open, losing to Serena Williams, 1–6, 3–6. At the French Open, she lost in the fourth round to Dominika Cibulková, 2–6, 6–7. Seeded second at Wimbledon, she reached the semifinals, where she was defeated by Serena, 3–6, 6–7. At the Summer Olympics, she reached the semifinals, where she once again lost to Serena, 1–6, 2–6. However, she won the bronze medal match against Maria Kirilenko, earning Belarus their first tennis medal in history. She teamed up with Max Mirnyi for the mixed-doubles event, where she won the gold medal after defeating Laura Robson and Andy Murray in the gold-medal match. Seeded first at the US Open, Azarenka defeated the defending champion, Samantha Stosur, in the quarterfinals and Sharapova in the semifinals, but lost to Williams in her first US Open final, 2–6, 6–2, 5–7. She then won the China Open as the top seed, defeating Sharapova 6–3, 6–1 in the final and did not drop a set in the tournament. Azarenka won her sixth title of the year at the Generali Ladies Linz defeating Julia Görges 6–3, 6–4, after blowing a 5–0 in the second.
  Maria Sharapova started 2012 by reaching the final of the Australian Open. Being the favorite for the title, she succumbed in a 3–6, 0–6 defeat by first time grand slam finalist, Victoria Azarenka, in the final. She followed up her consistent performance with back-to-back final appearances at the BNP Paribas Open, losing to Azarenka, 2–6, 3–6, and the Sony Ericsson Open, losing to  Agnieszka Radwańska, 5–7, 4–6. She then won her first title of the year at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, defeating world no. 1 Azarenka, 6–1, 6–4. She then also won the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, defeating Li Na, 4–6, 6–4, 7–6 coming back from 0–4 in the second set. At the French Open, she won her fourth grand slam singles title, defeating Sara Errani, 6–3, 6–2, in the final. The victory gave her a career grand slam and returned her to world no. 1. Entering Wimbledon as the top seed, Sharapova lost in the fourth round to Sabine Lisicki, 4–6, 3–6. She rebounded well at the Summer Olympics, winning the silver medal after being outplayed by Serena Williams in the final, 0–6, 1–6. Despite skipping the US Open Series, she reached the US Open's semifinals, but lost to Azarenka. She then reached the final of the China Open, once again facing Azarenka but lost 3–6, 1–6.
  On September 10, Serena Williams became the third player to qualify for the championships.
  Serena Williams did not enjoy a good start of the season, injuring her ankle at her first tournament of 2012 in Brisbane and succumbing in the fourth round of the Australian Open to Ekaterina Makarova, 2–6, 3–6. In the clay season, she won her first title on clay since 2008 at the Family Circle Cup, losing only 15 games and defeating Lucie Šafářová, 6–0, 6–1, in the final. She then won the Mutua Madrid Open over Victoria Azarenka, 6–1, 6–3. Coming to the French Open as a heavy favorite with a 17-match winning streak, Williams suffered a shocking first-round loss to Virginie Razzano, 6–4, 6–7, 3–6. This marked Williams' first loss in the first round in a Grand Slam. However, she regrouped well and triumphed at Wimbledon by defeating Agnieszka Radwańska in t
caption: Li Na won her first title of the year in Cincinnati.
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