The 5 WTA Finals champions to never win a Grand Slam: ft. Elina Svitolina, Agnieszka Radwanska
The WTA Finals is one of the biggest titles up for grabs in tennis and, for some, it proved to be the biggest success of their careers.
We look at the five women who were able to triumph at the year-end championships despite never lifting a major title.
Sylvia Hanika – 1982
The first woman on this list is German star Hanika, who caused one of the biggest shocks in WTA Finals history with her triumph at the 1982 championships.
A former world No 5, the German was unbeaten across her round robin matches in New York, defeating Anne Smith and Mima Jausovec to seal her spot in the last four.
Hanika then battled past Wendy Turnbull in three sets to reach the final, where she was a significant underdog against defending champion and tennis great Martina Navratilova.
She found herself 6-1, 3-1 down in the championship match, though battled back to seal hugely surprising a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 triumph.
That was one of six WTA Tour singles titles for Hanika, who also reached a further 18 finals.
The closest she came to winning a major was at the 1981 French Open, beaten by Hana Mandlikova in the final.
Agnieszka Radwanska – 2015
Former world No 2 Radwanska defied a slow start to her campaign to lift the biggest title of her career at the year-end championships in Singapore nine years ago.
Making her seventh appearance at the Finals, the Pole was beaten by Maria Sharapova and Flavia Pennetta in her first two matches, though rallied to beat Simona Halep in her final group match.
That result was enough for her to progress to the last four, where she rallied from a set down to defeat second seed Garbine Muguruza – unbeaten in her group – and reach the final.
Up against long-term rival Petra Kvitova, the Pole used all her trademark guile and skill to seal a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 victory and seal a surprise triumph.
Radwanska won 20 singles titles in total, including five WTA 1000 victories, though never quite got her hands on a major.
She was beaten by Serena Williams in the 2012 Wimbledon final, reaching further semi-finals in SW19 and at the Australian Open.
Dominika Cibulkova – 2016
Slovakian star Cibulkova followed in Radwanska’s footsteps by defying a 1-2 group stage record to claim victory in 2016 – in her only appearance at the year-end championships.
The former world No 4 was beaten by top seed Angelique Kerber and Madison Keys across her opening matches, though victory over Halep was enough to send her into the last four.
That set up a semi-final against Svetlana Kuznetsova, who she beat in a back-and-forth three-set semi-final to reach the final.
Cibulkova was the underdog against world No 1 Kerber in a group stage rematch, though stunned the German with a 6-3, 6-4 triumph to lift the title.
It was the eighth and final tournament victory for the Slovakian, who reached one major final in her career.
Cibulkova was beaten in straight sets by Li Na in the 2014 Australian Open final, though was also a French Open semi-finalist in her career.
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Elina Svitolina – 2018
Former world No 3 Svitolina won the biggest title of her career in the final Singapore edition of the WTA Finals, not losing a single match on her way to victory.
The Ukrainian battled her way to a 3-0 record in her group, recording three-set victories over Karolina Pliskova and Caroline Wozniacki, while beating Kvitova in straight sets.
Svitolina was then pushed to three sets again in the last four, edging past Kiki Bertens in an epic encounter to set up a final against Sloane Stephens.
The sixth seed found herself a set down in the final, though battled back to triumph with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory.
Svitolina has won 17 tour titles, including four WTA 1000 victories, though has never reached a major final.
She has reached the quarter-final at all four Slams and has twice reached the Wimbledon semi-finals, as well as one semi-final at the US Open.
Caroline Garcia – 2022
French star Garcia capped off a stunning second half of 2022 with a surprise victory at the WTA Finals in Fort Worth two years ago.
The former world No 4 suffered a heavy round robin loss to world No 1 Iga Swiatek, though wins over Coco Gauff and Daria Kasatkina proved enough for her to progress to the semi-finals.
Garcia was in full flight in her last four encounter, dropping just five games in an emphatic victory against Maria Sakkari to reach the final.
And she continued her momentum with a stirring final display, beating seventh seed Aryna Sabalenka 7-6(4), 6-4 to triumph.
That was the 11th and, to date, most recent singles tour title for the Frenchwoman, who has also won three WTA 1000 titles.
Her best singles major result was a run to the semi-final of the US Open earlier that same year.
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