WTA Finals: Can Gauff retain her title or will Sabalenka, Swiatek or Anisimova win?

Can Coco Gauff retain her WTA Finals title in Riyadh or will Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek or Amanda Anisimova take home to coveted title in Riyadh?

The top eight singles players will converge on the King Saud University Sports Arena from Saturday to battle for the prestigious season-ending championship - live on Sky Sports.

Sabalenka has the year-end world No 1 ranking tied up, but she will want to end 2025 in an ultimate high.

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What are the Groups?

Steffi Graf Group
[1] Aryna Sabalenka
[3] Coco Gauff
[5] Jessica Pegula
[8] Jasmine Paolini

Serena Williams Group
[2] Iga Swiatek
[4] Amanda Anisimova
[6] Elena Rybakina
[7] Madison Keys

Gigi Salmon, Laura Robson, Tim Henman, Jonathan Overend and Ryan Harrison are on hand with their predictions and surprise packages ahead of this year's extravaganza.

Tim Henman's predictions

I think Sabalenka will win WTA Finals. She is guaranteed No 1 ranking so will play with lots of freedom. With the court surface and altitude, conditions are perfect for her to outpower everyone.

My dark horse is Anisimova. She had a great year in the Grand Slams and could finish off the year with a bang. Altitude will suit her ball striking.

Laura Robson's predictions

If the conditions are anything like last year, not super high bouncing, but a high enough bouncing fast court, then it will suit Gauff really well. I would assume it's going to be the same. But I think that that automatically gives her a great chance of winning the title.

My dark horse is Rybakina. She's coming off a great couple of weeks. She's just won a tournament. She seemed to enjoy the conditions last year. She's also got a bit of confidence in her game at the moment. In my head, she's always a dark horse, but especially this time of the season, when a few other players are a little bit shattered.

Gigi Salmon's predictions

I'm a little bit heart and head on this one. My head says Gauff will successfully defend her title. She had a really good Asian swing, winning Wuhan, the serve is looking better and even if she has a wobble with it she is so mentally tough that she can get through it.

My heart says Amanda Anisimova, Tour Finals debutant, ranked 359 at the end of 2023 after taking a break from the sport and 36 at the end of 2024. This year she has reached two Grand Slam finals, bouncing back impressively after both final losses and most recently winning the WTA 100 Beijing title, taking her to world No 4. It would be a fairy-tale ending to 2024 for Anisimova.

Anisimova would also have to be my dark horse, although I'm not sure there really is a dark horse when you have the eight best players in the world up against each other!

Jonathan Overend's predictions

My winner is Anisimova. I can't stop now. After tipping her to win Wimbledon, and coming close, then backing her at the US Open, and coming much closer, I'm banking on third time lucky! She'll enjoy the courts, enjoy the challenge of her group rivals and finish an incredible season in style.

My dark horse is Jessica Pegula. I doubt anyone else will pick Jess based on the way she dragged her body and mind to the end of the 2024 season, but this time things appear different. She played so many sets and matches in Asia, looking supremely confident in the way she wants to play and surviving a series of tight matches. Rather than ending on a whimper, she's set to finish with a flourish.

Ryan Harrison's predictions

I'm going with Gauff to win and Anisimova is my dark horse.

Sky Sports' Raz Mirza

Sabalenka, Gauff and Anisimova seem to be this year's picks with our pundits, but no one has gone for Swiatek! Her form may have take a real dive after her victory in Cincinnati and the conditions may not be so favourable, but I'm backing the Wimbledon champion to find her A-game and win the title for the second time in three years.

You can't look past Anisimova as the dark horse. What an incredible year she's had and up to world No 4! That illusive Grand Slam title is just around the corner and victory at the WTA Finals could prove a real stepping stone for her having already won WTA 1000 titles in Doha and Beijing this year.

Who are the past winners?

Martina Navratilova holds the record for the most WTA Final victories with eight.

Nobody has defended their title since Serena Williams won three in a row from 2012 to 2014.

The past 10 winners:

• 2024 - Coco Gauff
• 2023 - Iga Swiatek
• 2022 - Caroline Garcia
• 2021 - Garbine Muguruza
• 2019 - Ashleigh Barty
• 2018 - Elina Switolina
• 2017 - Caroline Wozniacki
• 2016 - Dominika Cibulkova
• 2015 - Agnieszka Radwanska
• 2014 - Serena Williams

Watch the ATP and WTA Tour Finals, live on Sky Sports or stream with NOW and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.