page_title: 2014 WTA Finals
section_title: Singles
hierarchical_section_title: 2014 WTA Finals / Qualified players / Singles
caption_attribution_description: Simona Halep
context_page_description: The 2014 WTA Finals was a women's tennis tournament in Singapore from October 17 to October 26, 2014, and was the 44th edition of the singles event and the 39th edition of the doubles competition. The tournament was held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, and contested by eight singles players and eight doubles teams. It was the Championships of 2014 WTA Tour.
context_section_description: On 5 September, Serena Williams became the first player to qualify for the Championships.
  Following her 2013 season, Serena Williams won her 58th title in Brisbane, defeating the world no.2, Victoria Azarenka, in the final. She injured her back at the Australian Open and lost in the fourth round to Ana Ivanovic in three sets. She returned to competition in Dubai Tennis Championships but lost in the semifinals to Alizé Cornet. She successfully defended her Miami title, after defeating Li Na in the final. She lost in the second round of Charleston to Jana Čepelová and withdrew before her quarterfinals match in Madrid before defending her Rome title, defeating Sara Errani in the final. Coming as the defending champion of the French Open, she lost in the second round to Garbiñe Muguruza 2–6, 2–6, in her most lopsided loss in slam in her career.
  Following her disappointing loss in Paris, Williams returned to Wimbledon as the top seed. She reached the third round before losing to Cornet in three sets. She appeared sick in her following doubles match. She made a return in Bank of the West Classic where she won the title by defeating Angelique Kerber in the final. The following week, she lost to sister Venus for the first time since 2009 in the semifinals of Rogers Cup. She won her 62nd title the following week in Cincinnati, beating Ivanovic in the final, this marks her third time winning the US Open Series. After her disappointing results in the Major tournaments this year, she made the final of the US Open, where she qualified for the WTA Finals. In the final, she defeated Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets, thus winning her 18th Major singles title, tying the records of Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova.
   On 9 September, Maria Sharapova became the second player to qualify for the championships.
  After prematurely ending her 2013 season due to an injury, Maria Sharapova began 2014 at the 2014 Brisbane International where she lost to top seed Serena Williams in the semifinals. Then, she travelled to Melbourne to play the Australian Open as the 3rd seed, she managed to reach the 4th round where she lost to Slovak and eventual finalist Dominika Cibulková. In February, Sharapova played the Paris indoors tournament as the top seed, she lost to fellow Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the semifinals. Sharapova kicked off her North American hardcourt season at Indian Wells as the defending champion. However, she was upset by Camila Giorgi in the third round in three sets. At the Sony Open Tennis, Sharapova lost to Serena in the semifinals again. During the clay court season, Sharapova enjoyed major success. She defended her title at Stuttgart defeating Ana Ivanovic in the final in a three-setter and won the Mutua Madrid Open, outplaying Simona Halep in three sets as well. She suffered her only loss on clay in 2014 at Rome when she fell to Ivanovic in the third round but she bounced back at the French Open by collecting her 5th Grand Slam title when she defeated Halep again in a match lasting over 3 hours, the second longest women's Grand Slam final in history. Sharapova suffered a fourth round loss at Wimbledon to Angelique Kerber. Sharapova began her 2014 US Open Series campaign at the Rogers Cup losing to Spaniard Carla Suárez Navarro in the third round. The following week at Western & Southern Open, she reached the semifinals before succumbing to Ivanovic again in three sets. At the US Open, Sharapova, seeded 5th, lost in the fourth round to Caroline Wozniacki. Sharapova won her first hard court title since Indian Wells 2013 at the China Open defeating Petra Kvitová in the final in three set.
  On 15 September, Simona Halep was announced as the third qualifier for the Championships.
  Simona Halep enjoyed a breakthrough in 2013 where she won her first six WTA titles. She kicked off the 2014 season at the 2014 Brisbane International, she fell to Madison Keys in round 1. At the 2014 Australian Open, she reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal but lost to Dominika Cibulková. She then won the biggest title of her career at the 2014
caption: Simona Halep reached her first slam final at the French Open.
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