With the conclusion of the 2022 WTA Finals, the season has come to an end. Caroline Garcia put up a commanding performance to defeat Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (4), 6-4 in the final to claim the biggest title of her career so far.
Garcia's path to the title included wins over Coco Gauff and Daria Kasatkina, along with a loss to Iga Swiatek during the group stage. She earned $220,000 for her couple of victories and the defeat wasn't rewarded with any monetary compensation.
Garcia then defeated Maria Sakkari in the last four to reach the title round. Her win over Sabalenka in the final earned her $1.24 million and coupled with a base participation fee of $110,000, the French player will walk away with a total of $1.57 million in prize money.
However, the total financial reward for the champion has decreased considerably. Back in 2019, Ashleigh Barty secured a $4.2 million cheque as the WTA Finals winner, which remains the most amount of money earned by a tennis player at a single tournament.
Sabalenka's road to the final was quite similar to Garcia's, with wins over Ons Jabeur and Jessica Pegula, along with a loss to Sakkari in the group stage. She knocked out Swiatek in the semifinals before losing in the championship round. The Belarusian earned $220,000 for her round-robin victories, $420,000 for being the runner-up and with $110,000 participation fee, her total payday was $750,000.
Elise Mertens and Veronika Kudermetova are the doubles champions at the 2022 WTA Finals
Meanwhile, Elise Mertens and Veronika Kudermetova defeated defending champions Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova 6-2, 4-6, 11-9 to claim their maiden WTA Finals crown.
The Czech pair were the favorites to win and were a strong team throughout the season, claiming three of the four Major titles. After they staged a comeback to clinch the second set, they led 7-2 in the deciding tie-break. However, Mertens and Kudermetova turned the tables on them to win the title.
The Belgian-Russian pairing went undefeated during the group stage to win a total of $60,000 for their three victories. Winning the championship fetched them $250,000 and adding their participation fee of $50,000, the duo earned $300,000. The prize money will be split evenly between the two players.
Siniakova and Krejcikova also remained unbeaten during the group stage to earn $60,000. Adding up their $50,000 participation fee and their runner-up reward of $80,000, they bagged a total of $190,000.