2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
Maria Sharapova started the year strongly by winning in Brisbane with a win over Ana Ivanovic in the final. At the Australian Open Sharapova saved two match points to beat Alexandra Panova and the second round and went on to reach the final, where she lost to Serena Williams in straight sets. After the Australian Open, a leg strain hampered Sharapova as she suffered three straight early exits to Flavia Pennetta in Indian Wells, Daria Gavrilova in Miami and Angelique Kerber in Stuttgart, where Sharapova was the three-time defending champion.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
Sharapova rebounded by reaching the semifinals of Madrid, losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova and winning Rome, beating Carla Suárez Navarro in the final. However, this success did not carry over into the French Open where as the defending champion she lost in the fourth round to eventual finalist Lucie Šafářová. Sharapova then reached the semifinals of Wimbledon, losing once again to Williams in straight sets. Sharapova withdrew from the US Open Series, she returned at Wuhan, but had to retire from her opening match against Barbora Strýcová with a left forearm strain. She subsequently withdrew from Beijing to give herself time to recover for Singapore. This marks the 8th time Sharapova has qualified for the Championships.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
Garbiñe Muguruza became the fourth player to qualify on 8 October following her round of 16 win at the China Open.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
Garbiñe Muguruza started 2015 ranked outside the top 20, but she will be the #2 seed at the WTA Finals. Muguruza lost in the quarterfinals of Sydney to Angelique Kerber and the fourth round Australian Open to Serena Williams. Muguruza then reached her first Premier 5 semifinal in Dubai, where she lost to Karolína Plíšková. She failed to win back-to-back matches until the French Open, where she reached the quarterfinals, losing to Lucie Šafářová. At the Wimbledon, Muguruza reached her first Grand Slam final by defeating losing 6–4, 6–4 to Serena Williams.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
After Wimbledon, Muguruza lost her opening matches in Toronto and Cincinnati. After Cincinnati, Muguruza split with her longtime coach, Alejo Mancisidor. He was replaced by Sam Sumyk. Muguruza lost in the second round of the US Open to Johanna Konta. However, she rebounded in Asia by reaching the final of Wuhan, retiring against Venus Williams and winning her biggest title to date at the China Open where she overcame Timea Bacsinszky in the final in straight sets. This year's Championships is Muguruza's singles debut.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
Petra Kvitová was announced as the fifth qualifier on 14 October.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
Petra Kvitová qualified for the Championships for the fifth straight year despite struggling with mononucleosis for most of the 2015 season. She began the year reaching the semifinals in Shenzhen and claiming her 15th career title by beating compatriot Karolína Plíšková in the final of Sydney. However, she was upset in the third round of the Australian Open by young American Madison Keys. She then withdrew from Indian Wells and Miami, citing exhaustion.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
On clay, Kvitová fell early to Madison Brengle in Stuttgart but less than two weeks later, she beat Serena Williams for the first time in her career en route to winning the title at Madrid. She then made the quarterfinals in Rome, and the fourth round of the French Open. At Wimbledon, defending champion Kvitová was upset in the third round by former World No. 1 Jelena Janković. After Wimbledon, Kvitová announced that she had been diagnosed with mononucleosis. She then suffered consecutive opening-round losses in the hands of Victoria Azarenka in Toronto and Caroline Garcia in Cincinnati. However, she rebounded spectacularly by defending her title at New Haven and achieving her career-best result at Flushing Meadows by reaching the quarterfinals. She then lost in the third round of Wuhan to Roberta Vinci and the first round of Beijing to Sara Errani.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
On 18 October, Agnieszka Radwańska was confirmed as the sixth qualifier after capturing the Tianjin Open title.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
Agnieszka Radwańska began 2015 by competing at the Hopman Cup, where she claimed the title for Poland with Jerzy Janowicz defeating Americans Serena Williams and John Isner. However, she was unable to carry the momentum from this victory, winning back-to-back matches only three times between Sydney and the French Open. She rebounded at Nottingham, reaching the semifinals, before reaching the final at Eastbourne where she lost to Belinda Bencic. She followed it up with a semifinal appearance at Wimbledon falling to Spain's Garbiñe Muguruza in three sets.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
Radwańska continued her better form with consistent results during the US Open series, reaching three quarterfinals out of four tournaments played. However, she lost in the third round of the US Open to Madison Keys. At the Pan Pacific Open, Radwańska claimed her first title in over a year against Bencic in straight sets. She then reached the semifinal of the China Open, once again losing to Muguruza. She claimed her second title of the year at the Tianjin Open defeating first time finalist Danka Kovinić. This is the fifth straight year Radwańska has qualified for the championships.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
On 21 October, Angelique Kerber and Flavia Pennetta became the sixth and seventh qualifiers respectively.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
Angelique Kerber started her season by reaching the quarterfinals at the Brisbane International, where she lost to Elina Svitolina. After reaching the semifinals in Sydney, Kerber lost 8 of her next 11 matches, including Australian Open in which she lost to Irina-Camelia Begu, the worst being a 6–1 6–1 loss to then-World No. 81 Francesca Schiavone in Antwerp which prompted Kerber to split with coach Benjamin Ebrahimzadeh and reunite with Torben Beltz. She then won the Family Circle Cup by beating home favorite Madison Keys in the final.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
Kerber continued her winning streak by winning the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix defeating Caroline Wozniacki in the final to win her second title in a row. She suffered her first career loss to Garbiñe Muguruza in an epic three sets in the third round of the French Open. Kerber rebounded by defeating Karolína Plíšková to win her third title of the year in Birmingham. She was then however defeated by eventual finalist Muguruza in the third round of Wimbledon. Kerber beat Plíšková to win her fourth title of the year at the Bank of the West Classic. Kerber again lost an epic third round match at the US Open, this time to Victoria Azarenka. She then reached the final of the Hong Kong Open where she succumbed to Jelena Janković in three sets. This will be Kerber's third appearance at the Championships.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
Flavia Pennetta did not win a match until the Dubai Tennis Championships where she lost to Caroline Wozniacki in the last eight. As the defending champion at Indian Wells, she managed to reach the quarterfinals but lost to Sabine Lisicki. After defeating Victoria Azarenka in the third round at Miami, she lost to Simona Halep in the following round. At Marrakech, she lost to Tímea Babos in the quarterfinals. She then lost her opening matches at both Madrid and Rome. This was followed by a round of 16 appearance at the French Open where she lost to Garbiñe Muguruza.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
Pennetta succumbed to Zarina Diyas in three sets in the first round at Wimbledon. She then lost in the second rounds of Toronto and Cincinnati to Serena Williams and Belinda Bencic respectively. At the US Open, Pennetta captured her maiden Grand Slam singles title after a dream run to the final by defeating compatriot Roberta Vinci in the final. She then withdrew from the Wuhan and then reached the R16 of the China Open, losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. She qualified for the finals by winning her opening match at the Kremlin Cup but then withdrew from her quarter final match against Lesia Tsurenko. This is her first appearance at the Championships.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
On October 22, Lucie Šafářová was announced as the final qualifier for the Championships.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
Lucie Šafářová began the season by dropping her opening round matches in Sydney and the Australian Open. She rebounded by winning her biggest career title to date at Doha by beating Victoria Azarenka in the final in straight sets. She then reached the quarterfinals at Madrid where she lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova. Šafářová then advanced to her first ever Grand Slam singles final at the French Open by defeating former champion Ana Ivanovic in the semifinals. There, she lost to Serena Williams in three sets.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
At Wimbledon, she cruised into the fourth round but was upset by Coco Vandeweghe in straight set. She then lost to Petra Kvitová in the final at New Haven. After suffering a first round loss at the US Open to Lesia Tsurenko, it was revealed that Šafářová was suffering from an abdominal muscle tear and a bacterial infection. She missed the Asian swing as a result and in her first match back in Linz, she lost to Andreea Mitu in straight sets. At the Kremlin Cup, she was defeated by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in her opening match. She will be making her debut at the Championships.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
The first alternate of the tour finals is Venus Williams, who had a resurgent year in 2015.She began the year by winning the ASB Classic defeating Caroline Wozniacki in three sets. She then followed it up by reaching her first slam quarterfinal at the Australian Open since 2010 losing to Madison Keys. She also was able to reach the quarterfinals of the US Open losing to sister Serena. She won her biggest title since Dubai 2010, by claiming the Wuhan Open defeating Garbiñe Muguruza in the finals.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
The second alternate spot was taken by Carla Suárez Navarro had a break through in 2015, including breaking through the top 10 and reaching a career high of no. 8 in the world. She was able to reach three finals in the year, but losing in all of them. The first coming at the Diamond Games, where she needed to withdraw from the final against Andrea Petkovic with a neck injury. She followed it up with her biggest final to date at the Miami Open but lost to world no. 1 Serena Williams winning just two games. Her third final was at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia where she fell to Maria Sharapova in three sets. Despite strong showings at WTA events, Suárez Navarro struggled at the major events losing in the first round of three of the four slams.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
On 14 July, Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza became the first doubles players to qualify for the Championships.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza began their partnership at the BNP Paribas Open and winning the title against Makarova/Vesnina, they then claimed their next two events at the Miami Open once again over Makarova/Vesnina and the Family Circle Cup over Dellacqua/Jurak, claiming three titles in a row, this wins placed Mirza on the top of the rankings. They went on to reach the final of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia losing to Babos/Mladenovic.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
They then claimed their first slam as a team at Wimbledon once again defeating Makarova/Vesnina, for Mirza it was the first Grand Slam title and for Hingis the third Wimbledon and first Grand Slam title since 2002. They then claimed their second slam title at the US Open over Dellacqua/Shvedova. They then claimed three consecutive titles at the Guangzhou International Women's Open over Shilin/Xiaodi, at the Wuhan Open over Begu/Niculescu and at the China Open over Chan/Chan.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
Mirza also won another title with Bethanie Mattek-Sands at the Apia International Sydney over Kops-Jones/Spears, while Hingis won the Brisbane International with Sabine Lisicki over Garcia/Srebotnik. Mirza also reached the final of the Qatar Total Open with Hsieh Su-wei losing to Kops-Jones/Spears. At the Mixed Doubles, Hingis won three of the four slam pairing with Leander Paes, they won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. For Hingis, it will be the sixth participation at the Championships since 2000, for Mirza, the second. Hingis won the Finals twice, while Mirza is the defending champion.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
American Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Czech Lucie Šafářová on 16 August became the second duo to qualify.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Šafářová began their pairing by winning their first doubles slam as a team and as individual at the Australian Open defeating Chan/Zheng. They claimed their second title of the year at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix over Garcia/Srebotnik. At the second slam of the year, the French Open, they claimed they second slam defeating Dellacqua/Shvedova. Their calendar year grand slam hope ended at Wimbledon when they lost to Kops-Jones/Spears in the quarterfinals. They claimed their fourth title at the Rogers Cup over Garcia/Srebotnik.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
The pair missed the US Open and the Asian swing due to Šafářova's infection. Mattek-Sands also claimed the Apia International Sydney with Mirza defeating Kops-Jones/Spears. In the Mixed Doubles, Mattek-Sands won the French Open with Mike Bryan and lost in the final of the US Open with Sam Querrey. Both players will debut at this year's Championships.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
On September 15, the teams of Casey Dellacqua/Yaroslava Shvedova and Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina took the next two spots.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
Casey Dellacqua and Yaroslava Shvedova started their partnership at the second quarter of the year. They claimed their lone title of the year at the Mutua Madrid Open defeating Muguruza/Suárez Navarro. They reached three other finals of the year but lost in each, at the French Open to Mattek-Sands/Šafářová, the Western & Southern Open to Chan/Chan and the US Open to Mirza/Hingis. Dellacqua also reached the final of the Family Circle Cup with Darija Jurak losing to Mirza/Hingis. This would be Dellacqua's first appearance at the event, while this is Shvedova's third appearance having reached the semifinals in her previous two appearances. The team withdrew due to Dellacqua's concussion.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina are continuing their partnership for the fourth straight year. The team failed to win a title in the year but reached the finals of BNP Paribas Open, Miami Open and Wimbledon to the number 1 team of Hingis/Mirza. This is the team's third Year-End Championship appearance having reached the final in 2013. The team withdraw due to Makarova's leg injury.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
On October 5, the team of Tímea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic became the fifth team to qualify.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
Tímea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic continued their partnership from 2014. The pair won their first title as a team at the Dubai Tennis Championships defeating Muguruza/Suárez Navarro. They also won the international event Marrakech Grand Prix over Siegemund/Zanevska. They won their third title and second Premier 5 event at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia defeating Hingis/Mirza. Mladenovic also won the Citi Open with Belinda Bencic over Arruabarrena/Klepač. The pair also reached the finals of Mixed Doubles slam but both losing with different partners Mladenovic with Daniel Nestor at the Australian Open and Babos with Alexander Peya at Wimbledon.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
On October 9, Katarina Srebotnik and Caroline Garcia took the sixth spot.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
Katarina Srebotnik and Caroline Garcia began their partnership at the beginning of 2015. They began their year by reaching the final of Brisbane International losing to Hingis/Lisicki. They reached their second final of the year at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix losing to Mattek-Sands/Šafářová. At their third final, they claimed their first title as a team defeating Chan/Zheng at the Aegon International. They reached their first Premier 5 final as a team at the Rogers Cup falling to Mattek-Sands/Šafářová. On October 10, sisters Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan qualified after reaching the final of the China Open.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan mainly partnered with each for 2015. They claimed their first title of 2015 at the PTT Thailand Open defeating the team of Aoyama/Tanasugarn. They claimed their biggest title of the year at the Premier event of Western & Southern Open defeating Dellacqua/Shvedova. They also won the Japan Women's Open over the local pairing of Doi/Nara. They reached two other final, at the Toray Pan Pacific Open losing to Muguruza/Suárez Navarro and the final of the China Open losing to the number 1 pairing of Mirza/Hingis. Hao-ching also claimed a title with Anabel Medina Garrigues at the Nürnberger Versicherungscup defeating Arruabarrena/Olaru, while Yung-jan paired with Zheng Jie in a losing effort at the Australian Open to Mattek-Sands/Šafářová.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
On October 18, Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears qualified after reaching the final of the Generali Ladies Linz.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears partnering for the ninth year entered the top 10 for the first time. They began their 2015 by reaching the final of Apia International Sydney losing to Mattek-Sands/Mirza. They claimed their first title of 2015 at the Qatar Total Open defeating Hsieh/Mirza. At the Aegon Nottingham Open they defeating the local team of Rae/Smith. They claimed their third title of the year at the Generali Ladies Linz defeating the Czech team of Hlaváčková/Hradecká.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
On October 20, following Makarova and Vesnina's withdrawal, the Czech pairing of Andrea Hlaváčková and Lucie Hradecká took their spot.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
Andrea Hlaváčková and Lucie Hradecká re-partnered after splitting in 2014. They were able to reach three finals in the year, the first coming at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel losing to Arruabarrena/Torró Flor, then at the Aegon Classic losing to Muguruza/Suárez Navarro, then finally the final of Generali Ladies Linz losing to Kops-Jones/Spears. Hradecká also reached the final of Gastein Ladies with Lara Arruabarrena losing to Kovinić/Vogt, she won her lone title at the Connecticut Open with Julia Görges defeating Chuang/Liang. Hradecká also reached the final of the Mixed Doubles of French Open with Marcin Matkowski losing in the final.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
On October 22, following the withdrawal of Dellacqua and Shvedova, the Spanish duo of Garbiñe Muguruza and Carla Suárez Navarro qualified for the championships.


2015 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
Garbiñe Muguruza and Carla Suárez Navarro continued their partnership from 2014. They reached the final of Dubai, losing to the pairing of Babos/Mladenovic. They reached the final of the  Mutua Madrid Open, losing to the newly paired Dellacqua/Shvedova. They won their 1st title in 2015 when they beat the Czech team of Hlaváčková/Hradecká at the Aegon Classic. They won their second title at the Toray Pan Pacific Open defeating Chan/Chan.


2015 WTA Finals, Groupings, Singles
The 2015 edition of the year–end finals will feature only one former world no. 1, three Grand Slam champions and four Grand Slam finalists. The competitors were divided into two groups, representing the colors of the flag of Singapore.


2015 WTA Finals, Groupings, Singles
In the red group, each player's respective records are; no. 1 seed Simona Halep is 5–13, no. 3 Maria Sharapova is 19–5, no. 5 seed Agnieszka Radwańska is 11–19, and no. 7 seed Flavia Pennetta is 10–8. Despite being the top seed, Halep has quite a poor record against her group. She is 0–5 against Sharapova, including their last meeting at the 2014 Western & Southern Open. Against Radwańska, Halep is tied at 4–4, but she has won 4 of the last 5 matches between the pair, including most recently at the 2015 Rogers Cup.


2015 WTA Finals, Groupings, Singles
In her match-up with Pennetta, Halep trails 1–4, losing the last time they met at the 2015 US Open. Sharapova has a strong record against Radwańska, standing at 12–2, winning the last 5 meetings, most recently in first round of the 2015 Fed Cup. Against Pennetta, Sharapova trails 2–3, the only head to head she is on the losing side of. Pennetta won the last time they faced each other, at the 2015 BNP Paribas Open. In the final match up, Radwańska leads Pennetta 5–3, including victory over the Italian in their most recent encounter, at the 2015 Qatar Total Open.


2015 WTA Finals, Groupings, Singles
In the white group, each player's respective records are; no. 2 seed Garbiñe Muguruza is 3–4, no. 4 seed Petra Kvitová is 11–2, no. 6 seed Angelique Kerber is 6–8, and no. 8 seed Lucie Šafářová is 2–8. Muguruza and Kvitová will be facing each other for the first time. Muguruza and Kerber have split their meetings 3–3, however the Spaniard has won the last 3 matches, most recently at the 2015 Wuhan Open. Muguruza  is 0–1 against Šafářová, losing the only time they have played one another at the 2015 French Open.


2015 WTA Finals, Groupings, Singles
Kvitová has an impeccable record against the rest of her group, which includes 4–2 lead over Kerber. The Czech also won the last time they played, in the final of the 2014 Fed Cup. She has a perfect head to head with compatriot Šafářová, leading 7–0. Kvitová won their most recent encounter at the 2015 Connecticut Open. Lastly, Kerber and Šafářová are tied at 1–1, the latter winning when they last met in the final of the 2014 Fed Cup.


2015 WTA Finals, Player head-to-head
Below are the head-to-head records as they approached the tournament.


2015 WTA Finals, Road to Singapore, Singles
Players with a  gold  rank cell are officially qualified for WTA Finals in Singapore. First 8 players qualify for Singapore (except those with  brown  rank cell, who are not participating). The two players after them will be alternates in Singapore.


2015 WTA Finals, Road to Singapore, Singles
† The player's ranking at the time did not qualify her to play this event. Accordingly, the player's next best result is counted in its place.


2015 WTA Finals, Road to Singapore, Doubles
The 8 pairs with a  gold  rank number have qualified for WTA Finals in Singapore. Those with  brown  rank cell have announced not to participate.


2015 WTA Finals – Doubles
Cara Black and Sania Mirza were the defending champions, but Black did not qualify this year. Mirza played alongside Martina Hingis, and successfully defended her title, defeating Garbiñe Muguruza and Carla Suárez Navarro in the final 6–0, 6–3.


2015 WTA Finals – Legends Classic
The 2015 WTA Legends Classic was a women's tennis exhibition event held during the 2015 WTA Finals in Singapore at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.


2015 WTA Finals – Legends Classic
Martina Navratilova won the tournament in an innovative doubles format that saw her earn the highest game-winning percentage after three doubles matches played.


2015 WTA Finals – Singles
World No. 1 Serena Williams was the three-time defending champion, but she withdrew from the tournament due to injury.


2015 WTA Finals – Singles
Garbiñe Muguruza, Flavia Pennetta and Lucie Šafářová made their debuts at the event.


2015 WTA Finals – Singles
Agnieszka Radwańska won the title, defeating Petra Kvitová in the final, 6–2, 4–6, 6–3.


2015 WTA Finals – Singles
For the first time since the current Round Robin format was reintroduced in 2003, both finalists advance to the final after losing two matches in the round-robin stage.


2015 WTA Premier tournaments
The 2015 WTA Premier tournaments are 21 of the tennis tournaments on the 2015 WTA Tour. The WTA Tour is the elite tour for women's professional tennis. The WTA Premier tournaments are divided into three levels, which all rank below the Grand Slam events and above the WTA International tournaments.


2015 WTA Shenzhen Open
The 2015 Shenzhen Open (known as 2015 Shenzhen Gemdale Open for sponsorship reason) was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the third edition of the Shenzhen Open, and part of the WTA International tournaments of the 2015 WTA Tour. It took place at the Shenzhen Longgang Sports Center in Shenzhen, China, from 4 to 10 January 2015.


2015 WTA Shenzhen Open, Points and prize money, Prize money
1 Qualifiers prize money is also the Round of 32 prize money* per team


2015 WTA Shenzhen Open, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2015 WTA Shenzhen Open – Doubles
Monica Niculescu and Klára Koukalová were the defending champions, but Koukalová chose not to participate. Niculescu played alongside Zarina Diyas, but they lost in the first round to Lyudmyla Kichenok and Nadiia Kichenok. The Kichenok sisters went on to win the title, defeating Liang Chen and Wang Yafan in the final, 6-4, 7-6(8-6).


2015 WTA Shenzhen Open – Singles
Li Na was the two-time defending champion, but retired from professional tennis on 19 September 2014. First-seeded Simona Halep won the title, defeating Timea Bacsinszky in the final, 6–2, 6–2.


2015 WTA Tour
The 2015 WTA Tour was the elite professional tennis circuit organised by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for the 2015 tennis season. The 2015 WTA Tour calendar comprises the Grand Slam tournaments (supervised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), the WTA Premier tournaments (Premier Mandatory, Premier 5, and regular Premier), the WTA International tournaments, the Fed Cup (organized by the ITF), and the year-end championships (the WTA Finals and the WTA Elite Trophy). Also included in the 2015 calendar is the Hopman Cup, which is organized by the ITF and does not distribute ranking points.


2015 WTA Tour, Schedule
This is the complete schedule of events on the 2015 calendar, with player progression documented from the quarterfinals stage.


2015 WTA Tour, Statistical information
These tables present the number of singles (S), doubles (D), and mixed doubles (X) titles won by each player and each nation during the season, within all the tournament categories of the 2015 WTA Tour: the Grand Slam tournaments, the year-end championships (the WTA Tour Championships and the Tournament of Champions), the WTA Premier tournaments (Premier Mandatory, Premier 5, and regular Premier), and the WTA International tournaments.


2015 WTA Tour, Statistical information
The players/nations are sorted by: 1) total number of titles (a doubles title won by two players representing the same nation counts as only one win for the nation); 2) cumulated importance of those titles (one Grand Slam win equalling two Premier Mandatory/Premier 5 wins, one year-end championships win equalling one-and-a-half Premier Mandatory/Premier 5 win, one Premier Mandatory/Premier 5 win equalling two Premier wins, one Premier win equalling two International wins); 3) a singles > doubles > mixed doubles hierarchy; 4) alphabetical order (by family names for players).


2015 WTA Tour, Statistical information, Titles information
The following players won their first main circuit title in singles, doubles, or mixed doubles:


2015 WTA Tour, Statistical information, Titles information
The following players defended a main circuit title in singles, doubles, or mixed doubles:


2015 WTA Tour, Statistical information, Top 10 entry
The following players entered the top 10 for the first time in their careers:


2015 WTA Tour, WTA rankings
These are the WTA rankings of the top 20 singles players, doubles players, and the top 10 doubles teams on the WTA Tour, at the current date of the 2015 season. Players with a gold background qualified for the WTA Finals.


2015 WTA Tour, Points distribution
The points distribution was mostly the same for the 2015 season. Main draw rounds usually give a little less points, but there is no change for the champion (W). Points for qualifying rounds (Q) have changed in both directions depending on the tournament category. Points earned in 2014 retain their value until they expire after 52 weeks. What changed are the distribution of points for the WTA Finals and WTA Elite Trophy.


2015 WTA Tour, Retirements
Following is a list of notable players (winners of a main tour title, and/or part of the WTA Rankings top 100 (singles) or (doubles) for at least one week) who announced their retirement from professional tennis, became inactive (after not playing for more than 52 weeks), or were permanently banned from playing, during the 2015 season:


2015 WTA Tour, Comebacks
Following are notable players who will come back after retirements during the 2015 WTA Tour season:


2015 Waco Showdown
The 2015 Waco Showdown was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the first edition of the tournament and part of the 2015 ITF Women's Circuit, offering a total of $50,000 in prize money. It took place in Waco, United States, on 2–8 November 2015.


2015 Waco Showdown, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2015 Waco Showdown – Doubles
This was a new event in the ITF Women's Circuit.


2015 Waco Showdown – Doubles
Wildcards Nicole Gibbs and Vania King won the title, defeating Julia Glushko and Rebecca Peterson in the final, 6–4, 6–4.


2015 Waco Showdown – Singles
This was a new event in the ITF Women's Circuit.


2015 Waco Showdown – Singles
Viktorija Golubic won the inaugural title, defeating Nicole Gibbs in the final, 6–2, 6–1.


2015 Waco shootout
On May 17, 2015, in Waco, Texas, United States, a shootout erupted at a Twin Peaks restaurant where more than 200 persons, including members from motorcycle clubs that included the Bandidos, Cossacks, and allies, had gathered for a meeting about political rights for motorcyclists. Law enforcement, which included 18 members of the Waco police and four state troopers, had gathered to monitor the restaurant and meeting from outside, and, according to police, "returned fire after being shot at".


2015 Waco shootout
Nine bikers were killed, 18 others wounded or injured, and 177 individuals were ultimately arrested and initially detained in connection with the shootout, most for alleged participation in organized crime. According to The New York Times, "the response by prosecutors was widely criticized as brazen overreach". According to the Waco Tribune-Herald, the shootout led to a "four-year prosecutorial fiasco that resulted in zero convictions."


2015 Waco shootout, Background
In 2014, the Texas Department of Public Safety listed the Bandidos Motorcycle Club as a "Tier 2" threat, the same rating as the Crips, Bloods, and Aryan Brotherhood, but it did not evaluate the Cossacks. That assessment said that the Bandidos Motorcycle Club "conducts their illegal activities as covertly as possible, and avoids high-profile activities such as drive-by shootings that many street gangs tend to commit."


2015 Waco shootout, Background
According to Steve Cook, executive director of the Midwest Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Investigators Association, an element of the dispute had to do with the right of Texas outlaw motorcycle clubs to wear jackets decorated with distinctive patches, including a geographic bottom rocker reading "Texas", indicating Texas as the territory of the club. The dominant Bandidos claimed the right to approve all such jacket bottom rocker patches. A police affidavit released June 16 described the source of the conflict in similar terms.


2015 Waco shootout, Background
Following the shootout, police spokesman Patrick Swanton said a turf war between the rival thugs was a factor in the deadly encounter. It allegedly started following the beating of a Cossack by Bandidos at a Toys for Tots event in Decatur, Texas on December 6, 2014, and the killing of a gang member of the Ghostriders MC the following week in Fort Worth. Skirmishes over the issue continued on March 22, 2015. A police affidavit described fighting between Bandidos and Cossacks going back to November 2013, including brawls resulting in injuries, in Abilene, Palo Pinto County, and Lorena, Texas. Some of those previously-injured bikers were arrested in Waco after the shootout on May 17.


2015 Waco shootout, Background
On May 1, 2015, the Texas Department of Public Safety issued an advisory statement to police: "The conflict may stem from Cossacks members refusing to pay Bandidos dues for operating in Texas and for claiming Texas as their territory by wearing the Texas bottom rocker on their vests, or 'cuts.'"


2015 Waco shootout, Background
The shootout erupted at a regularly scheduled regional meeting of the Texas Confederation of Clubs and Independents (COC&I), the statewide biker club coalition, involved in political issues regarding the rights of motorcyclists. Based in Tyler, Texas, the coalition engages in a broad range of activities; for example, it was honored by the city council of Jacksonville, Texas, on May 14 for its involvement in Motorcycle Safety and Awareness Month.


2015 Waco shootout, Background
According to the police, most previous meetings of COC&I for that region had been held in Austin, Texas. COC&I has twelve regions, and Waco is in Region 1. The Bandidos are leading members of the COC&I while the Cossacks are not. The police affidavit claims that the Bandidos "wanted to have a show of force and make a statement that Waco was not a Cossacks' town". The police account states that, in response, the Cossacks "threatened that Waco was a 'Cossacks town' and nobody else could ride there" and they made "the decision to take a stand and attend the meeting uninvited".


2015 Waco shootout, Background
Police were made aware of the meeting and had at least a dozen local officers plus state officers positioned nearby. The restaurant had agreed to host the meeting. Officers described the restaurant management as uncooperative when confronted with concerns about the meeting. Swanton said Twin Peaks had been unhelpful in helping police officers deal with gangs in the past.


2015 Waco shootout, Shootout
The conflict began sometime after noon, according to Waco police who had been monitoring motorcycle club activity at the Twin Peaks restaurant. Initial reports say the original conflict began, allegedly over a parking spot where "someone had their foot run over", and the fight escalated from there. At 12:24 p.m., gunfire erupted.


2015 Waco shootout, Shootout
Waco Police Sergeant W. Patrick Swanton declined to reveal details regarding how many of the dead and injured were shot by police, though he added it was possible that some of the victims had been shot by officers, stating "They started shooting at our officers and our officers returned fire." In total, nine bikers died and eighteen others were hospitalized with injuries. Later the number of injured was amended to twenty.


2015 Waco shootout, Shootout
Swanton also related that officers invoked the "Active Shooter" protocols, which are rules of engagement newly designed and implemented to give responding law enforcement officers quicker permission to engage mass shooters with deadly force, before a command and control structure is in place. All of the fatalities, as well as the majority of those injured during the melee, suffered gunshot wounds. The shootout was the deadliest and most high-profile event in the Waco area since the Waco siege of the Branch Davidian compound in 1993.


2015 Waco shootout, Shootout
In a June 5 bail reduction hearing, prosecutor Michael Jarrett said videotape of the shootout shows "Bandidos executing Cossacks, and Cossacks executing Bandidos". Arguing in favor of the high bonds, Jarrett said, "The facts and circumstances of this case are so extraordinary and so different from anything we have ever dealt with, we believe adequate bonds need to be in place to ensure the safety of this community."


2015 Waco shootout, Shootout
Although all of the deaths were due to gunfire, other weapons seized after the conflict included chains, brass knuckles, knives, clubs, and batons. The knives included pocket knives, trench knives, and combat knives. A police source told CNN preliminary information indicated four of the bikers had been killed by police gunfire, but Swanton said "[t]he autopsies have not been completed and that information may very likely be incorrect".


2015 Waco shootout, Shootout
According to six witnesses interviewed by the Associated Press, three of whom were military veterans, the shootout began with a small number of pistol shots, and was then dominated by semiautomatic weapons fire. Only one semiautomatic rifle was confiscated from a biker, which was in a locked car. The police had semiautomatic weapons. Swanton said the bikers fired more shots than the police did, and that it will take months to obtain ballistics reports.


2015 Waco shootout, Shootout
Security footage shown by the Twin Peaks franchisee to the Associated Press showed one man started shooting on the patio, at which time most bikers tried to seek safety inside, first in the bathroom, and when that room filled up, the kitchen. None of those camera angles showed the parking lot.


2015 Waco shootout, Shootout
On June 12, the Waco Police Department announced three officers fired their .223-caliber rifles a total of twelve times. It was later determined that those rounds struck four of the bikers. Forty-four spent casings were recovered at the scene, according to the police.


2015 Waco shootout, Shootout
Vehicle forfeiture documents released June 16 include a detailed affidavit with a description of the police and prosecution's version of the events leading up to the shootout, and what they say happened at the shootout itself. The affidavit says the Cossacks arrived over an hour before the scheduled 1:00 pm meeting, and "took over the patio area, which had been reserved for the COC&I meeting." As a group of Bandidos arrived, several Cossacks and their allies approached and some pulled weapons including pistols.


2015 Waco shootout, Shootout
Bandidos member Reginald Weathers testified at a bond reduction hearing that he was part of that group of Bandidos, and that Cossacks members disrespected Dallas Bandidos president David Martinez immediately upon their arrival, arguing about a parking space. When Weathers stepped forward to defend Martinez, he says he was punched in the face, and then shot by a single bullet that passed through his arm and his chest. Since he was leaning over after being punched, he said he did not see who fired the shot.


2015 Waco shootout, Shootout
One Bandido nearly hit a Cossack with his motorcycle, and another Bandido "punched a Cossack in the face". At that point, "[s]everal Bandidos and Cossacks pulled out their weapons, including handguns, and shot and stabbed each other," and Martinez fired a .32 caliber pistol that he then placed in a parked car, according to the affidavit. Martinez was among those arrested and has since been released on bond. Police gunfire then followed.


2015 Waco shootout, Casualties
All nine men died of gunshot wounds. According to erroneous initial police statements, eight were Cossacks and one was a Bandido.


2015 Waco shootout, Casualties
According to his family, Jacob Lee Rhyne, a father of two from Ranger, Texas, had joined the Cossacks six months prior and didn't own a gun. His girlfriend said, "I cannot see Jake going there if he knew there was going to be trouble. Our kids were too important."


2015 Waco shootout, Casualties
Jesus Rodriguez's son said the Vietnam War Marine Corps veteran and father of seven from New Braunfels, Texas was "in the wrong place at the wrong time" and didn't carry weapons. He used to carry a pocketknife, but stopped after being told he couldn't bring it into a convention. He was an associate of the Bandidos, but not a patched-in member. Rodriguez received a Navy Commendation Medal for his service in Vietnam, and a Purple Heart for wounds sustained during it.


2015 Waco shootout, Casualties
Daniel Boyett, the only Waco resident to die, owned and ran a trucking company with his third wife.


2015 Waco shootout, Casualties
Richard "Bear" Kirschner was the Sergeant at Arms for his chapter of the Cossacks, tasked with maintaining order during club activities and defending members from outside threats. He was married.


2015 Waco shootout, Casualties
Wayne Campbell was a road captain for the Cossacks, responsible for organizing bike runs and ensuring the safety of those on them.


2015 Waco shootout, Casualties
Matthew Smith was a Scimitar before joining the Cossacks, with whom the Scimitars are aligned. He graduated from Tarrant County College and worked for Geek Squad.


2015 Waco shootout, Casualties
As of May 19, seven of the injured remained in a hospital, in stable condition. According to attorney Seth Sutton, who negotiated the first bail, four of the arrested have complained to his office that they were jailed before bullet fragments could be removed from their bodies.


2015 Waco shootout, Witness accounts
Witnesses who came forth following the event made these statements:


2015 Waco shootout, Police investigation
Spokesman Patrick Swanton said police recovered about 320 weapons from the crime scene. Swiss army knives, pocket knives, handguns, and an AK-47-style rifle were among the weapons found. One hundred and ninety-two people were initially arrested in connection with the shootout, with 171 of those charged with participation in organized crime. They were booked at the McLennan County Jail. Per that inmate list, as of May 19, 171 people were arrested under arrest case WPD-15-9146, charged with engaging in organized criminal activity. Of them, 124 were white males, 41 were Hispanic males, three were white females, two were black males, and one was a Native American female. One hundred and six people were indicted by a grand jury in connection with the shootout.


2015 Waco shootout, Police investigation
All suspects had their bonds set at $1 million by Justice of the Peace W.H. "Pete" Peterson, who said it sent a strong message: "We had nine people killed in our community. These people just came in, and most of them were from out of town. Very few of them were from in town." On May 19, three suspects were released after their bonds were mistakenly set at $20,000 and $50,000. McLennan County Judge Ralph Strother issued a warrant to have them rearrested and their bond reset to $2 million. All three arranged to turn themselves in that day. Strother also ruled that no suspect's bond can be reduced without his approval. Judge Matt Johnson made a similar ruling. The first reduction hearing was in June in Strother's court, where 59-year-old Caldwell mechanic Jimmy Don Smith was represented by Bryan lawyer Dan Jones.


2015 Waco shootout, Police investigation
Police officers reported receiving several threats after the shooting, which they are investigating. A former Bandidos leader and several experts on outlaw motorcycle clubs questioned whether the reported threats against police were genuine.


2015 Waco shootout, Police investigation
On May 22, fifty-year-old factory worker and Bandido Jeff Battey posted bail. The cash amount wasn't disclosed, but is typically 10% in Texas, or $100,000. Afterward, his lawyer and prosecutors argued over whether this meant he could leave jail. He ultimately did, after the district attorney and two district judges negotiated special restrictions for him and any future bailee from this case, including ankle monitoring, surrendering of passports, abstention from drugs and alcohol and no contact with club members or potential victims or witnesses. One other suspect was subsequently bailed out later that day, according to McLennan County Recovery Healthcare Corporation Office Manager Ronnie Marroquin, who attaches the ankle monitors.


2015 Waco shootout, Police investigation
One of the arrested, Martin Lewis, is a retired veteran detective of 32 years from the San Antonio Police Department. At the time, he was a school bus driver. He was consequently fired by the Northside Independent School District.


2015 Waco shootout, Police investigation
As of May 24, 75 suspects had requested a public defender qualified to work first-degree felony charges, of which McLennan County has 29. To make up the rest, Judge Matt Johnson has for the first time called in defenders from nearby counties, including Dallas, Bell, Williamson, Travis, Hill, Coryell, Limestone and Johnson. The district has 26 prosecutors to split the caseload among, and can enlist others from the county, state or federal levels, if needed.


2015 Waco shootout, Police investigation
One of the arrested, San Antonio's Kenneth Carlisle, had just pulled into the parking lot when he was arrested in his wife's car and charged with engaging in organized crime, according to his wife. She says he wasn't wearing any sort of biker clothing, and was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. She called the ordeal of running her two-child household while working with lawyers to negotiate a lower bond for a husband she has only been allowed to visit by phone "the worst nightmare of my life", and says she's aware of eight other arrested with similar stories.


2015 Waco shootout, Police investigation
The last arrested biker to be released from jail was Marcus Pilkington on October 30, over five months after the shootings. No one had yet been charged with murder or any other additional charges.


2015 Waco shootout, Aftermath
Waco police sergeant Patrick Swanton said that the management of the Waco Twin Peaks had been unhelpful in dealing with bikers in the past. On May 18, Twin Peaks announced it had canceled the Waco restaurant's franchise because the management there "chose to ignore the warnings and advice from both the police and our company, and did not uphold the high security standards we have in place to ensure everyone is safe at our restaurants." Later that day, Twin Peaks spokeswoman Meghan Hecke announced that the Waco location would not reopen.


2015 Waco shootout, Aftermath
She said discussions are underway on the future of another Twin Peaks in Harker Heights, owned by the same "relatively new" franchisee, Peakstastic Beverages, LLC. That company released a statement denying it was advised by police or Twin Peaks against holding the event, and contending that the violence began in the parking lot, rather than in the building. It expressed disappointment in Twin Peaks' decision to terminate the franchise before many facts were known, and pledged to assist the ongoing investigation.


2015 Waco shootout, Aftermath
Owners of the nearby Don Carlos Mexican Restaurant filed suit against Peakstastic Beverages and Twin Peaks on May 21, alleging financial damages incurred when its uninvolved restaurant was labeled a crime scene and forced to close until May 21, as the result of gross negligence by Twin Peaks. It accuses the franchisee of creating "an extreme degree of risk considering the probability and magnitude of the potential harm to others" by hosting the event, and the franchiser of regularly encouraging franchisees to host such events.


2015 Waco shootout, Aftermath
About 135 motorcycles and 80 cars and pickup trucks from the crime scene were seized through civil forfeiture law and may be auctioned off by the county, regardless of whether or not their owners are convicted.


2015 Waco shootout, Aftermath
Juan Garcia, an engineer for the City of Austin since 2009 and one of the men mistakenly released on lessened bail, was placed on paid administrative leave, pending the legal outcome and the city's own internal review. Garcia and three other bikers filed a lawsuit for damages alleging  wrongfully arrest against Twin Peaks, the City of Waco, and McLennan County. The suit seeks $1 billion in damages.


2015 Waco shootout, Criticism of Waco police
On May 29, Clinton Broden, an attorney with Broden & Mickelsen representing arrested biker Matthew Alan Clendennen filed a lawsuit in U.S. Federal district court claiming that his client was innocent of all charges and was held on a "fill in the name" warrant without any individual probable cause. The lawsuit was filed against the City of Waco, Texas and McLennan County as defendants, and also one named and 20 unnamed police officers as well as the McLennan County District Attorney, Abelino Reyna, and five unnamed assistant district attorneys. Clendennen is a graduate of Baylor University, a small business owner and has no previous criminal record. He was bailed after posting $100,000. He is member of the Scimitars Motorcycle Club.


2015 Waco shootout, Criticism of Waco police
Two and a half weeks after the shootout, over 140 of those arrested were still being held on $1 million bail. Law school professor and civil rights lawyer David Kairys characterized the attitude of police as "Let’s arrest them all and sort it out later," comparing the arrests to the Red Scare mass arrests of socialists and communists after World War I and the period of McCarthyism in the early 1950s. According to Kairys, such arrests may have a "chilling effect" on freedom of association and freedom of speech.


2015 Waco shootout, Criticism of Waco police
Waco police tried to prevent the release of standard information about the shootout, particularly pertaining to arresting officers. The city attorney of Waco requested that the attorney general of Texas give them the power to withhold the public records from the news media. Bill Aleshire, an attorney in Austin, Texas, criticized Waco officials for violating "bedrock open government law."


2015 Waco shootout, Criticism of Waco police
By early June, criticism of the lack of accurate information about the incident was increasing in the national news media. Conor Friedersdorf, a reporter for The Atlantic described the incarceration of 160 people on $1 million bonds as "self-evidently excessive", and pointed out that the information lacking included "how many of the dead bikers were shot by police officers, how many cops fired their weapons, or how many total rounds they discharged." A reporter for the Houston Press described the response of Waco authorities as "a textbook example of how not to handle an emergency situation".


2015 Waco shootout, Criticism of Waco police
In response to 37 complaints of inadequate health care, inedible food, degrading treatment, and sanitation issues in the jail, the Texas Commission on Jail Standards conducted a surprise inspection on June 4. The inspector found all conditions met the minimum state standards. Houston lawyer Paul Looney, representing two men who did not file complaints, said both lost almost twenty pounds by avoiding food that had bugs on it or otherwise appeared unsafe.


2015 Waco shootout, Criticism of Waco police
On June 7, over 500 bikers gathered outside the McLennan County Courthouse to protest the mass incarcerations with about 124 bikers remaining in jail at that time. One protester, Dot Green, commented, "Only an idiot would believe that 176 hardcore criminals all showed up at a restaurant to start a big fight with the cops, and that they all deserve 1 million dollar bails."


2015 Waco shootout, Criticism of Waco police
On June 10, The New York Times observed that bond-reduction hearings are "routine proceedings that are typically heard within seven to 10 days of an arrest." Paul Looney, an attorney for three of the defendants said, "It's the most un-American activity I've seen on American soil."


2015 Waco shootout, Criticism of Waco police
On June 22, Stephen Stubbs, an attorney for the Bandidos, issued a statement accusing the police of spreading misinformation, and demanding the immediate release of all videos of the shootout, as well as the autopsy reports. Stubbs said the violence "was senseless, completely unnecessary, and wrong." He stated that weapons in possession of the Bandidos were "legally owned and carried" and that the Bandidos "were not aggressors, did not start the altercation, did not strike first, were not the first to pull weapons, and were not the first to use weapons." Stubbs added that "all involvement in the altercation by members of the Bandidos was in self-defense."


2015 Waco shootout, Criticism of Waco police
Also on June 22, attorneys for Matt Clendennen, a member of the Scimitars Motorcycle Club, served Twin Peaks with a subpoena to produce their copy of the surveillance video of the events. The City of Waco moved to quash the subpoena. However, according to Clendennen's attorney, the city did not have standing to do so and only Twin Peaks, the recipient of the subpoena, could move to quash.


2015 Waco shootout, Criticism of Waco police
On June 30, a Waco state district judge denied the city's motion to quash, requiring Twin Peaks to turn over the footage, but he barred the release of the video to the public. At the request of prosecutors, the judge also placed a gag order on the Clendennen case, prohibiting police, attorneys, and witnesses from discussing the case publicly. Clendennen's attorneys filed an emergency appeal of the gag order the next day.


2015 Waco shootout, Criticism of Waco police
On September 14, 2016, three Waco police officers were cleared of wrongdoing in the shootout by a grand jury. A McLennan county grand jury reviewed the cases and chose not to charge Waco officers Andy O'Neal, Michael Bucher and Heath Jackson.


2015 Waco shootout, Indictments
On November 10, 2015, a Waco grand jury indicted 106 people on felony charges of "engaging in organized criminal activity". Although a gag order was only imposed for attorneys involved in the Clendennen case, District Attorney Abel Reyna was "openly discuss[ing] the indictments after the grand jury action". Five defense attorneys representing arrested bikers issued statements criticizing the "cookie cutter" nature of the indictments, and Reyna's press conference. The Houston Chronicle pointed out that six months had passed since the shootings, and that law enforcement had not yet said who specifically was responsible for the shootings, or whether any of those killed or wounded had been hit by police gunfire.


2015 Waco shootout, Indictments
On May 9, 2018, prosecutors filed murder charges against three of the bikers and more than 20 others were re-indicted, this time on new charges.


2015 Waco shootout, Trial, lack of convictions, and dismissal of charges
The only one of the arrested bikers to be tried was Jake Carrizal, president of the Dallas chapter of the Bandidos motorcycle club. His trial ended in a mistrial on November 10, 2017.


2015 Waco shootout, Trial, lack of convictions, and dismissal of charges
As of February 28, 2018, 58 of the 154 bikers indicted had had their cases either dismissed or not prosecuted.


2015 Waco shootout, Trial, lack of convictions, and dismissal of charges
In March 2018, charges against Cody Ledbetter, a member of the Cossack motorcycle club, were dismissed. The McLennan County District Attorney had distributed sexually explicit pictures of Ledbetter and his wife, which had been on Ledbetter's cell phone, to attorneys for the 177 defendants. On March 28, 2018, a judge ordered the district attorney to stop distributing the photos.


2015 Waco shootout, Trial, lack of convictions, and dismissal of charges
On April 27, 2018, a special prosecutor sought to dismiss all charges against defendant Matthew Clendennen, citing lack of evidence. During a conference regarding the rest of the defendants, the District Attorney's office said that they would likely dismiss most of the other cases, save for about 30.


2015 Waco shootout, Trial, lack of convictions, and dismissal of charges
As of January 2019, about 26 of the original 155 bikers remain indicted. Their trials were postponed for several months to allow new district attorney Barry Johnson time to review them and decide how to proceed. On April 2, 2019, all of the remaining criminal cases were dismissed.


2015 Waco shootout, Trial, lack of convictions, and dismissal of charges
In 2019, over 130 civil rights lawsuits by the bikers were pending against the former DA, the former Police Chief, city of Waco, McLennan County, and local and state officers involved in the mass arrest.


2015 Wagner Seahawks football team
The 2015 Wagner Seahawks football team represents Wagner College in the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season as a member of the Northeast Conference (NEC). They were led by first-year head coach Jason Houghtaling and played their home games at Wagner College Stadium. They finished the season 1–10 overal and 1–5 in NEC play to place seventh.


2015 Wahat convoy incident
The 2015 Wahat convoy incident was an incident which occurred on September 13, 2015 in which Egyptian security forces killed eight Mexican tourists and four Egptian guides in the Western Desert after allegedly mistaking them for terrorists.


2015 Wahat convoy incident, Background
The incident occurred as the group was spotted near an oasis in the Western Desert, when a joint police and army unit fired upon them. Ten injuries occurred in addition to the twelve deaths, after the group was confused to be part of terrorist activity in the region. The incident occurred the same day that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant stated that they were now active in the region, which has become lawless following multiple government overthrows in the region.


2015 Wake Forest Demon Deacons baseball team
The 2015 Wake Forest Demon Deacons baseball team will represent Wake Forest University during the 2015 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Demon Deacons will play their home games at Gene Hooks Field at Wake Forest Baseball Park as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They will be led by head coach Tom Walter, in his sixth season at Wake Forest.


2015 Wake Forest Demon Deacons baseball team, Previous Season
In 2014, the Demon Deacons finished the season 4th in the ACC's Atlantic Division with a record of 30–26, 15–15 in conference play. They qualified for the 2014 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Tournament, and were eliminated in the play-in round. They failed to qualify for the 2014 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.


2015 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team
The 2015 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team represented Wake Forest University during the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team is coached by Dave Clawson, who is coaching his second season at the school, and plays its home games at BB&T Field. Wake Forest competed in the Atlantic Coast Conference as part of the Atlantic Division, as they have since the league's inception in 1953. They finished the season 3–9, 1–7 in ACC play to finish in sixth place in the Atlantic Division.


2015 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team, Game summaries, Elon
11th meeting. 9–0–1 all time. Last meeting 2009, 35–7 Demon Deacons in Winston–Salem.


2015 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team, Game summaries, @ Syracuse
5th meeting. 1–3 all time. Last meeting 2014, 30–7 Orange in Winston–Salem.


2015 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team, Game summaries, @ Army
15th meeting. 10–4 all time. Last meeting 2014, 24–21 Demon Deacons in Winston–Salem.


2015 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team, Game summaries, Florida State
34th meeting. 6–26–1 all time. Last meeting 2014, 43–3 Seminoles in Tallahassee.


2015 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team, Game summaries, @ Boston College
23rd meeting. 8–12–2 all time. Last meeting 2014, 23–17 Eagles in Winston–Salem.


2015 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team, Game summaries, @ North Carolina
106th meeting. 35–68–2 all time. Last meeting 2012, 28–27 Demon Deacons in Winston–Salem.


2015 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team, Game summaries, NC State
109th meeting. 38–64–6 all time. Last meeting 2014, 42–13 Wolfpack in Raleigh.


2015 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team, Game summaries, Louisville
3rd meeting. 0–2 all time. Last meeting 2014, 20–10 Cardinals in Louisville.


2015 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team, Game summaries, @ Notre Dame
3rd meeting. 0–2 all time. Last meeting 2012, 38–0 Fighting Irish in South Bend.


2015 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team, Game summaries, @ Clemson
81st meeting. 17–62–1 all time. Last meeting 2014, 34–20 Tigers in Winston–Salem.


2015 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team, Game summaries, Duke
96th meeting. 37–56–2 all time. Last meeting 2014, 41–21 Blue Devils in Durham.


2015 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's soccer team
The 2015 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's soccer team represents Wake Forest University during the 2015 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. It is the 69th season of the university fielding a program. It the program's first season with Bobby Muuss as head coach. Muuss, the fourth head coach in program history, formerly coached Denver, and took over for Jay Vidovich, who left for a head coaching position with Portland Timbers 2. The team finished the regular season ranked #1 nationally and with the best record in the Atlantic Coast Conference, earning the top seed both in the 2015 ACC Men's Soccer Tournament and the 2015 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship.


2015 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's soccer team, Roster
As of 2015: Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2015 Wakefield Metropolitan District Council election
The 2015 Wakefield Metropolitan District Council election took place on 7 May 2015 to elect members of Wakefield Metropolitan District Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections. The Labour Party and Conservatives fielded a full slate of 21 candidates, with UKIP putting forward 17 candidates. There were 9 Green candidates, 9 TUSC candidates and 6 Liberal Democrat candidates. Also standing were 2 Yorkshire First representatives, and one Independent.


2015 Wakefield Metropolitan District Council election, Council Make-up
The make up of the Council following the election was:


2015 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats season
This article details the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats rugby league football club's 2015 season.


2015 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats season, Million Pound Game
After the Super 8 Qualifiers, Wakefield Trinity Wildcats finished 4th in the table and Championship side Bradford Bulls finished 5th meaning that the two teams would meet in a play-off match to determine who would join Hull Kingston Rovers, Widnes Vikings and Salford Red Devils in next seasons Super League.


2015 Wales Rally GB
The  Wales Rally GB 2015 was the thirteenth and last round of the 2015 World Rally Championship season, held over 12–15 November 2015. The rally was won by Sébastien Ogier, his eight victory of the 2015 WRC season. It was also noticeable for the discovery and subsequent murder investigation of the Clocaenog Forest Man by two spectators.


2015 Walker Cup
The 45th Walker Cup Match was played on 12 and 13 September 2015 at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, England. Great Britain and Ireland won 16½ to 9½.


2015 Walker Cup, Format
On Saturday, there are four matches of foursomes in the morning and eight singles matches in the afternoon. On Sunday, there are again four matches of foursomes in the morning, followed by ten singles matches in the afternoon. In all, 26 matches are played.


2015 Walker Cup, Format
Each of the 26 matches is worth one point in the larger team competition. If a match is all square after the 18th hole extra holes are not played. Rather, each side earns ½ a point toward their team total. The team that accumulates at least 13½ points wins the competition. In the event of a tie, the current holder retains the Cup.


2015 Walker Cup, Teams
Ten players for the US and Great Britain & Ireland participated in the event plus one non-playing captain for each team.


2015 Walker Cup, Teams
Note: "Rank" is the World Amateur Golf Ranking as of 26 August 2015.


2015 Walker Cup, Teams
Sam Horsfield was originally named to the GB&I team but withdrew and was replaced by Ewen Ferguson.


2015 Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council election
The 2015 Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 7 May 2015 to elect members of Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections.


2015 Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council election, Council make up
After the 2015 local election, the  political make up of the council was as follows:


2015 Walsh Cup
The 2015 Bord na Móna Walsh Cup was the 53rd staging of the Walsh Cup since its establishment in 1954.


2015 Walsh Cup, Fixtures/Results, Group 1
Kilkenny withdrew from the competition on 21 January 2015 following the death of Johnny Ryan. They hadn't yet played a game, leaving Carlow and NUIG to play off for a place in the semi-finals.


2015 Wan Chai District Council election
The 2015 Wan Chai District Council election was held on 22 November 2015 to elect all 15 members to the Wan Chai District Council.


2015 Wan Chai District Council election
The pro-Beijing camp remained control of the council with the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong retained the largest party status with three seats. In Tai Hang, "Umbrella soldier" Claris Yeung Suet-ying who, inspired by the 2014 Hong Kong protests, took a seat from New People's Party.


2015 Wanty–Groupe Gobert season
The 2015 season for the Wanty–Groupe Gobert cycling team began in February at the La Tropicale Amissa Bongo. The team participated in UCI Continental Circuits and UCI World Tour events when given a wildcard invitation.


2015 Waratah Cup
The 2015 Waratah Cup was the 13th season of Football NSW's knockout competition, and which ran from 3 June to 5 July. The Preliminary Rounds are now a part of the 2015 FFA Cup competition. The 5 winners from the FFA Cup preliminary Seventh Round qualified both for the Waratah Cup and for the 2015 FFA Cup Round of 32.


2015 Waratah Cup
The winners were Sydney United 58, their 5th title (including predecessor knockout cup competitions).


2015 Waratah Cup, Preliminary rounds
New South Wales clubs, other than Northern NSW and A-League clubs, participated in the 2015 FFA Cup via the preliminary rounds. The competition was for all Senior Men's teams of the National Premier Leagues NSW, NPL Division 2, State League Division 1, State League Division 2, as well as Association teams which applied to participate.


2015 Waratah Cup, Preliminary rounds
A total of 104 clubs entered into the competition, and the five qualifiers for the final rounds were:


2015 Waratah Cup, Playoff round
Two of the qualifiers played off to reduce the remaining teams to 4 for the Semi Finals.


2015 Waratah Cup, Semi finals
A total of 4 teams took part in this stage of the competition.


2015 Waratah Cup, Grand final
The 2015 Waratah Cup Grand Final was played on 5 July 2015 at Valentine Sports Park.


2015 Warrington Borough Council election
The 2015 Warrington Borough Council election took place on 7 May 2015 to elect members of Warrington Borough Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections.


2015 Warrington Borough Council election, Council make up
After the 2015 local election, the  political make up of the council was as follows:


2015 Warrington Wolves season
This article details the Warrington Wolves rugby league football club's 2015 season. This was the Wolves 20th season in the Super League.


2015 Warriors FC season
The 2015 season is Warriors' 20th consecutive season in the top flight of Singapore football and in the S.League. Along with the S.League, the club will also compete in the Prime League, the Singapore Cup and the Singapore League Cup.


2015 Warwick District Council election
Elections to Warwick District Council took place on Thursday 7 May 2015, with votes counted and declared on Saturday 9 May 2015.


2015 Warwick District Council election
A total of 46 seats were up for election, all councillors from all wards. The previous elections produced a majority for the Conservative Party. The boundaries of many of the wards across the District were changed from the previous election.


2015 Washington Huskies football team
The 2015 Washington Huskies football team represented the University of Washington in the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was led by second-year head coach was Chris Petersen. Washington was a member of the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference and played their home games on campus at Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium, in the University District of Seattle. They finished the season 7–6, 4–5 in Pac-12 play to finish in a tie fourth place in the North Division. They were invited to the Heart of Dallas Bowl where they defeated Southern Miss.


2015 Washington Huskies football team, Previous season
The Huskies finished the season 8–6, 4–5 in Pac-12 play to finish in third place in the North Division. They were invited to the Cactus Bowl where they lost to Oklahoma State.


2015 Washington Huskies football team, Postseason, 2016 NFL Draft
The 2016 NFL Draft was held at Auditorium Theatre in Chicago on April 28 through April 30, 2016. The following Washington players were either selected or signed as free agents following the draft.


2015 Washington Kastles season
The 2015 Washington Kastles season was the eighth season of the franchise in World TeamTennis (WTT).


2015 Washington Kastles season
The Kastles won their WTT-record fifth consecutive King Trophy when they defeated the Austin Aces in the WTT Championship Match. The Kastles were led by Leander Paes, who was named WTT Final Most Valuable Player, and Anastasia Rodionova, who was named WTT Female Co-Most Valuable Player.


2015 Washington Kastles season, Season recap, Draft
At the WTT Draft on March 16, 2015, it was announced that the world's number 1 female player Serena Williams had been assigned by the league to the Kastles as a designated player. The Kastles also protected Martina Hingis, Venus Williams, Leander Paes and Anastasia Rodionova. They used their first-round selection in the roster portion of the draft to pick roster-exempt player Sam Querrey.


2015 Washington Kastles season, Season recap, Draft
The league's designation of Serena Williams made it impossible for her to be drafted by any other team and relieved the Kastles of having to draft her along with her sister Venus as a marquee doubles team in the second round of the marquee portion of the draft. This will allow the Kastles to protect only one of Serena and Venus in the following season's draft should the other decide not to participate in the league in 2016.


2015 Washington Kastles season, Season recap, Other player transactions
On May 6, 2015, the Kastles signed Madison Brengle as a substitute player.


2015 Washington Kastles season, Season recap, Other player transactions
On June 26, 2015, the Kastles signed Denis Kudla, a resident of nearby Arlington County, Virginia, as a substitute player.


2015 Washington Kastles season, Season recap, Other player transactions
On July 10, 2015, the Kastles announced the signing of Rajeev Ram as a substitute for Leander Paes, who was scheduled to play in the mixed doubles final at Wimbledon on the same day as the Kastles' season opener.


2015 Washington Kastles season, Season recap, Serena Williams injured
On July 20, 2015, the Kastles announced that Serena Williams would be unable to play for the team in 2016, due to an injury. Fans attending the Kastles' July 21 match in which Williams was scheduled to play were given choices of either a $10 voucher redeemable at food concession stands, a 50% discount on purchases of Kastles gear up to $50 or a free ticket to a future home match.


2015 Washington Kastles season, Season recap, Winning streak and a playoff berth after a mediocre start
After the team announced the injury to Serena Williams, the Kastles lost a road match in which she was originally scheduled to play that same evening against the Philadelphia Freedoms, 18–16, and saw their record drop to 4 wins and 3 losses at the midway point of the season.


2015 Washington Kastles season, Season recap, Winning streak and a playoff berth after a mediocre start
Despite the slow start, one of the Kastles' wins came on July 18, by a score of 23–6 over the Freedoms. The 17-game margin of victory matched the largest in franchise history. The previous 17-game margins came on July 22, 2012, against the Kansas City Explorers and July 9, 2014, against the Boston Lobsters. Both of those matches ended with 25–8 final scores. In this match, the Kastles actually lost the opening set and trailed the match, 5–3. From there, they won 20 of the next 21 games, including all of the final 16.


2015 Washington Kastles season, Season recap, Winning streak and a playoff berth after a mediocre start
As the Kastles embarked on the second half of their season, the team regrouped and dominated the Lobsters at home, 25–13, earning the first of what would be five straight wins. The Kastles set a new home attendance record in the match with 4,255 fans passing through the gates. After a night off, the Kastles faced the Lobsters again and repeated the feat of sweeping all five sets in a 25–14 victory.


2015 Washington Kastles season, Season recap, Winning streak and a playoff berth after a mediocre start
The Kastles' big test came on July 24, when they went on the road to face the Austin Aces, who entered the match with 8 wins and only 1 loss. The Kastles had already suffered a home loss at the hands of the Aces early in the season. The Kastles won four of the five sets for a convincing 22–14 victory that improved their record to 7–3 and clinched the team's fifth consecutive playoff berth.


2015 Washington Kastles season, Season recap, Winning streak and a playoff berth after a mediocre start
Martina Hingis led the way, teaming with Leander Paes in the first set of mixed doubles and Anastasia Rodionova in the second set of women's doubles to give the Kastles an early 10–4 lead. Paes and Sam Querrey took the fourth set of men's doubles to extend the lead to 17–11, before Querrey took the final set of men's singles, 5–3, over Teymuraz Gabashvili to close out the match.


2015 Washington Kastles season, Season recap, Winning streak and a playoff berth after a mediocre start
The following night, the Kastles clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference and home-court advantage for the Eastern Conference Championship Match when the California Dream defeated the Lobsters, 21–19, in extended play.


2015 Washington Kastles season, Season recap, Late-season showdown
On July 28, 2015, the four-time defending WTT champion Kastles visited he Austin Aces, who entered the match with 10 wins and 2 losses and a chance to clinch the best overall regular-season record in WTT for 2015. A win by the Kastles would have given them control of their own destiny in the race for the WTT's top overall seed, and they would need only a home victory the following night against the Boston Lobsters. The Kastles got off to a quick start, taking the first two sets and building a 10–7 lead.


2015 Washington Kastles season, Season recap, Late-season showdown
Leander Paes and Sam Querrey won a tiebreaker in the opening set of men's doubles, and Anastasia Rodionova and Madison Brengle took a 5–3 set win in women's doubles. But Teymuraz Gabashvili put the Aces ahead, 12–10, with a 5–0 set win over Querrey in men's singles. Rodionova and Paes bounced back with a 5–2 set win in mixed doubles to put the Kastles back in front, 15–14, heading into the final set of women's singles. Elina Svitolina topped Madison Brengle, 5–1, to give the Aces a 19–16 victory and the best overall regular-season record in WTT for 2015.


2015 Washington Kastles season, Season recap, Eastern Conference championship
The Kastles hosted the Philadelphia Freedoms in the Eastern Conference Championship Match on July 30, 2015. It was a dominant performance for Washington, as the Kastles took all five sets en route to a 25–9 victory for their fifth consecutive Eastern Conference title. Martina Hingis teamed with Leander Paes in the opening set of mixed doubles for a 5–1 set win and later with Anastasia Rodionova to take a tiebreaker in the fourth set of women's doubles. Madison Brengle chipped in by saving three break points and winning both 3-all points for a 5–2 set win in women's singles. Paes and Sam Querrey took the men's doubles set, 5–2. Querrey closed out the match with a 5–0 whitewash of Robby Ginepri in men's singles.


2015 Washington Kastles season, Season recap, A fifth consecutive King Trophy
The Kastles won their fifth consecutive King Trophy as WTT champions when they defeated the Austin Aces in the WTT Final on August 2, 2015. The Kastles were led by their captain, WTT Final Most Valuable Player Leander Paes, who teamed with Martina Hingis to take the opening set of mixed doubles from Teymuraz Gabashvili and Alla Kudryavtseva, 5–2, and then with Sam Querrey to win the men's doubles set, 5–3, over Gabashvili and Jarmere Jenkins. Hingis and Anastasia Rodionova took the second set of women's doubles in a tiebreaker after each team broke the other's serve three times.


2015 Washington Kastles season, Season recap, A fifth consecutive King Trophy
With the Kastles leading, 15–9, Querrey faced Gabashvili, who led WTT in winning percentage in men's singles during the regular season. Querrey served six aces and won 14 of his 16 first-serve points to hold in all four of his service games without facing a break point or a 3-all point. Gabashvili matched Querrey's performance with four holds of his own that also featured no break point or 3-all point opportunities. Querrey was able to prevail in the tiebreaker game to give the Kastles a 20–13 lead heading to the final set.


2015 Washington Kastles season, Season recap, A fifth consecutive King Trophy
Madison Brengle faced Elina Svitolina in the final set of women's singles. Svitolina fell behind a break early in the set but broke back twice for a 5–3 set win that sent the match to extended play with the Kastles leading the match, 23–18. Brengle hit a backhand winner in the first game of extended play to end the match and secure the title for the Kastles.


2015 Washington Kastles season, Season recap, A fifth consecutive King Trophy
After the match, Paes said, "It's just a beautiful moment to share. I've had a really long career and done some really special things, and this is way up there with the best of them. I'd like to dedicate this MVP award to every single Kastles member, not only on the court, but behind the scenes, and every single Kastles fan." Kastles coach Murphy Jensen said, "It's a dream come true. It's so different. You'd think this'd get old hat, but it doesn't. It was a bigger challenge, because players were coming and going during the season. But to get them all to perform the way they did against an extremely tough team says a lot about our organization."


2015 Washington Kastles season, Draft picks
As defending WTT champions, the Kastles selected last in each round of the draft. Unlike previous seasons in which WTT conducted its Marquee Player Draft and its Roster Player Draft on different dates about one month apart, the league conducted a single draft at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California on March 16, 2015. The selections made by the Kastles are shown in the table below.


2015 Washington Kastles season, Statistics
Players are listed in order of their game-winning percentage provided they played in at least 40% of the Kastles' games in that event, which is the WTT minimum for qualification for league leaders in individual statistical categories.


2015 Washington Kastles season, Individual honors and achievements
The following table shows individual honors bestowed upon players of the Washington Kastles in 2015.


2015 Washington Kastles season, Individual honors and achievements
Anastasia Rodionova led WTT in winning percentage in women's doubles. Leander Paes led WTT in winning percentage in men's doubles Sam Querrey was second in WTT in winning percentage in both men's singles and men's doubles. Madison Brengle was second in WTT in winning percentage in both women's singles and women's doubles.


2015 Washington Mystics season
The 2015 WNBA season for the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association was scheduled to begin June 5, 2015.


2015 Washington Mystics season, Transactions, WNBA Draft
In the first round of the 2015 WNBA Draft, the Washington Mystics selected Ally Malott from University of Dayton as the eighth pick. The Mystics selected Natasha Cloud from Saint Joseph's University in the second round with the fifteenth overall pick, and Maria Gajic from Bosnia in the third round with the thirty-second overall pick.


2015 Washington Mystics season, Schedule, Playoffs
They lost to the New York Liberty twice in the playoffs.


2015 Washington Nationals season
The 2015 Washington Nationals season was the Nationals' 11th season as the baseball franchise of Major League Baseball in the District of Columbia, the eighth season at Nationals Park, and the 47th since the original team was started in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The team finished in second place in the National League East with a record of 83–79. Manager Matt Williams and the entire coaching staff were dismissed at the conclusion of the season.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Offseason, Transactions
On December 12, 2014, the Nationals traded Ross Detwiler to the Texas Rangers for Abel De Los Santos and minor-leaguer Chris Bostick.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Offseason, Transactions
On December 19, 2014, the Nationals took part in a three-team trade. Washington sent Travis Ott and Steven Souza, Jr., to the Tampa Bay Rays, the Rays sent Ryan Hanigan, Wil Myers, and minor-leaguers Jose Castillo and Gerardo Reyes to the San Diego Padres, and the Padres sent René Rivera, Burch Smith, and minor-leaguer Jake Bauers to the Rays. The Padres sent Joe Ross and a player to be named later to the Nationals, and completed the trade on June 14, 2015, by sending Trea Turner to the Nationals.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Offseason, Transactions
On January 14, 2015, the Nationals traded Tyler Clippard to the Oakland Athletics for Yunel Escobar and traded minor-leaguer Daniel Rosenbaum to the Boston Red Sox for Dan Butler.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Offseason, Transactions
On January 22, 2015, the Nationals signed right-handed reliever Evan Meek and utility man Kila Ka'aihue to minor-league deals with invitations to Spring training.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Offseason, Transactions
On March 30, 2015, they traded Jerry Blevins to the New York Mets for Matt den Dekker and traded Sandy León to the Boston Red Sox for cash considerations.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Offseason, Spring training
The Nationals held their 2015 Spring training in Viera, Florida, with home games played at Space Coast Stadium. A number of players went down with injuries during spring workouts and play, including starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg, infielders Yunel Escobar and Anthony Rendon, left fielder Jayson Werth, center fielder Denard Span, and closer Drew Storen.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Offseason, Team news
The Nationals lost first baseman Adam LaRoche, second baseman Asdrúbal Cabrera, relievers Ryan Mattheus, Ross Ohlendorf, and Rafael Soriano, infielder Greg Dobbs, outfielder Nate Schierholtz, and utility man Scott Hairston to free agency after the 2014 season. The Washington Post noted that despite some high-profile departures, particularly the loss of LaRoche, the team's core remained largely intact through 2015.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Offseason, Team news
The Nationals made several key roster decisions with its returning players during the off-season. Most notably, Ryan Zimmerman was moved from third to first base, Jayson Werth and Bryce Harper swapped positions in the outfield to put Werth in left and Harper in right field, and Tanner Roark was moved out of the rotation to the bullpen.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Offseason, Team news
Catcher Wilson Ramos did not participate in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League over the winter, as he had done in the past. He said he wanted to rest his body after a grueling 2014 season.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Offseason, Team news
Infielder Kevin Frandsen was released on April 1, days before the start of the regular season.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, Opening Day
The Nationals opened their season on April 6 at Nationals Park against the New York Mets. As multiple starters were still recovering from offseason surgeries or injuries sustained during Spring training, the Nationals were forced to get creative with their lineup in order to fill the holes: Michael A. Taylor stood in for the recovering Denard Span in center field, and Tyler Moore was placed in left field while Jayson Werth was still rehabilitating an injured shoulder. Yunel Escobar, originally slated to play at second base, was bumped to third as Anthony Rendon continued nursing an MCL sprain. The sudden vacancy at second was filled by the veteran Dan Uggla, who had impressed the coaching staff during Spring training.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, Opening Day
The Nationals were mostly quiet on offense throughout the game except for Harper, who went 2-for-4 on the day. Harper opened up the score by smashing a solo home run over the right-field wall in the fourth inning, giving his team a 1–0 lead. but a pair of errors by the shortstop Ian Desmond in the sixth and seventh innings allowed the Mets to score three runs, causing the Nationals to lose the game 3–1. The Mets' starting pitcher Bartolo Colón was credited with the win, and reliever Buddy Carlyle notched the first save in his career. Nationals starting pitcher Max Scherzer was credited with the loss, despite having an ERA of 0.00 as all three Mets runs came indirectly from Desmond's two errors.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, April
The Nationals struggled to stay afloat in their first month of the season. The team lost on Opening Day to the New York Mets, with Max Scherzer getting his first regular-season start as a Washington National and taking the loss despite pitching well, with shortstop Ian Desmond and second baseman Dan Uggla contributing to the defeat with defensive miscues in the middle infield.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, April
The Nationals managed to bounce back from the poor result with a win over the Mets in the second game of the series, earning Jordan Zimmermann his first win and Drew Storen his first save of the year. However, with its normal top three men in the lineup still not ready due to a spate of injuries, the offense struggled to score runs as the team lost the opening series at home to the Mets, with New York ace Matt Harvey outdueling Stephen Strasburg in Harvey's return after Tommy John surgery.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, April
The Nationals had similar results in the following series against the Philadelphia Phillies and the Boston Red Sox. Even when they scored multiple runs, poor fielding would often sabotage the team's chances of victory. The Nationals ended the month with a league-worst 24 recorded errors, nine of them attributed solely to Desmond.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, April
Outfielders Jayson Werth and Denard Span eventually finished their minor-league injury rehab assignments and rejoined the team, with Werth coming up on April 13 and Span returning on April 19. However, more players would go on the disabled list over the course of the month. Right-handed relief pitcher Craig Stammen tore a flexor tendon in his pitching arm and needed surgery to repair it, abruptly ending his 2015 campaign just a couple weeks into the season.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, April
Left-hander Felipe Rivero, called up to add depth to the bullpen, only made one appearance in a loss to the Phillies before going on the disabled list with gastrointestinal bleeding. Reed Johnson, signed late in spring training to provide bench depth, was hurt late in the month, straining his calf while avoiding a pickoff throw to first base. Meanwhile, Casey Janssen, Nate McLouth, and Anthony Rendon all stayed on the disabled list throughout the month, with changing timetables for their return. The Nationals also traded away left-handed reliever Xavier Cedeño after a string of poor performances out of the bullpen.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, April
The Nationals appeared to hit their lowest point as they suffered a six-game losing streak, starting from an April 22 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals and slumping into last place in the National League East division. On April 28, pitching prospect A. J. Cole made an unexpected major-league debut against the Atlanta Braves after Scherzer injured his thumb. Cole was chased off the mound after two innings, allowing nine runs off nine hits and one walk, with one strikeout.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, April
Despite being down 9–1 after two innings, the team fought back and won the game 13–12, capped by a go-ahead three-run homer by Uggla, a former Brave, in the ninth inning. The effort broke the Nationals' previous record comeback from June 17, 2006, when the team came back from a 9–2 deficit to beat the Yankees 11–9.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, April
The Nationals also set another record the very next game, posting back-to-back 13-run games after repeating their offensive performance and demolishing the Braves 13–4 in the rubber match of the series. However, Johnson suffered a leg injury during the game and ended up being placed on the disabled list for most of the season.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, May
The Nationals rebounded from a discouraging April to win eight of the nine series they played in May. Many of these games would be won by small run margins, which led Drew Storen to a league-leading 16 saves by the end of the month. At one point, the team had so many consecutive save opportunities that manager Matt Williams opted to rest Storen and gave starter-turned-reliever Tanner Roark his first career save on May 4 against the Miami Marlins. Rookie A. J. Cole later notched his own first save during a 10–0 blowout of the San Diego Padres on May 15, having pitched three straight innings in relief, during a brief call-up due to a forearm injury to starting pitcher Doug Fister that placed Fister on the disabled list.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, May
Other rookies notched their own notable firsts throughout this month: left-handed pitchers Matt Grace and Sammy Solis acquired their first major-league wins on May 4 and May 10, respectively. Utility player Clint Robinson, a 30-year-old rookie, became the first Nationals position player ever to pitch in a regular-season game, making his Major League Baseball pitching debut in a May 12 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks and tossing a scoreless inning in relief, including a three-pitch strikeout of veteran infielder Aaron Hill.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, May
Rookie outfielder Michael Taylor, who subbed in for an ejected Bryce Harper in a May 13 matchup against the Diamondbacks, hit his first career grand slam off Addison Reed in the top of the ninth inning to win the game for his team. Wilmer Difo, an infielder who started the year at the team's High-A affiliate Potomac Nationals, was called up on May 19 and hit a single up the middle against the New York Yankees on his first-ever major-league at-bat.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, May
For a large part of the month, Harper led the National League in nearly every offensive category, including batting average, home runs, runs batted in, and wins above replacement. Harper was awarded as "NL Player of the Week" two weeks in a row. However, he was also ejected twice during the month for arguing with the home plate umpire, once on May 13 in Arizona and again on May 20 as Nationals Park hosted the Yankees. The second ejection, by veteran umpire Marvin Hudson, faced criticism from The Washington Post and the Nationals, with Williams saying after the game, "I can't explain it. I don't believe there's anything that warrants throwing him out of the game right there."


2015 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, May
Unfortunately for the team, the injury bug kept eating its way through the starting lineup: Fister was diagnosed with a flexor strain after a losing performance against the San Diego Padres on May 14, forcing Roark to start in his place while he recovered and prompting the Nationals to call up Cole. After being hit by a pitch by Padres starter Odrisamer Despaigne on May 15, veteran outfielder Jayson Werth was discovered to have two fractures in his wrist, keeping him sidelined until August at the earliest.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, May
Stephen Strasburg pitched poorly in several games and was often pulled out early, until the team finally placed him on the disabled list following a short start against the Cincinnati Reds on May 29 due to neck tightness. Meanwhile, infielder Anthony Rendon's rehab hit a snag after he strained an oblique while rehabbing from an earlier MCL sprain, pushing his own return to June.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, May
All the injuries came to a head in the series against the Reds to close out the month. The offense struggled to score runs, and when the team did lead the bullpen struggled to keep their opponents in check. The Nationals were swept for the first and only time in May. In addition, Harper was hit by a pitch in the back on May 29 and sat out the middle game to recover.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, May
The Nationals' only left-handed starting pitcher, Gio González, was hit by pitches twice at the plate in the May 30 game, including once in his throwing arm, which led to him getting pulled earlier than planned after surrendering two runs when he next took the mound. Center fielder Denard Span hurt his knee making a play in the outfield in the last game on May 31, putting him on a day-to-day injury watch as well. Grace made a disastrous relief appearance in the last game of the Reds series, surrendering four earned runs while failing to retire any of the five batters he faced before he was pulled.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, May
Though they were now leading the NL East, the Nationals ended the month only a half-game above the Mets.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, June
Rookie left-handed reliever Felipe Rivero was reactivated from the disabled list on June 1, replacing Matt Grace on the bullpen roster. However, injuries continued to take their toll on the Nationals. Anthony Rendon finally returned to play second base on June 5, but he went back on the disabled list on June 26 with a quadriceps strain. Slugger Ryan Zimmerman, the Nationals' regular first baseman, was placed on the disabled list on June 11 after attempting to play through plantar fasciitis in his left foot with poor results for the first two months of the season.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, June
With Doug Fister and Stephen Strasburg still dealing with nagging injuries, the Nationals called up Joe Ross, a right-handed pitcher, from the Double-A Harrisburg Senators to temporarily join the rotation. He made his first start against the Chicago Cubs on June 6, pitching well but taking the loss due to lack of run support. Ross notched his first major league win on June 13, besting Jimmy Nelson and the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park in a 7–2 game. The Nationals also acquired David Carpenter as a relief pitcher from the New York Yankees on June 11.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, June
The Nationals did enjoy spectacular pitching performances during June, especially from ace Max Scherzer. In a 4–0 victory over the Brewers at Miller Park on June 14, Scherzer pitched a complete-game one-hitter in which he had 16 strikeouts, a new personal best that also set a new Nationals single-game strikeout record, exceeding the previous team record of 14 strikeouts Strasburg set in his Major League Baseball debut on June 8, 2010. Scherzer retired the first 18 Brewers he faced—also a Nationals record—and only two Brewers reached base, via a single and a walk.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, June
Only three balls left the infield, and Scherzer had 27 swings-and-misses among his 119 pitches, another personal best and the most by any Major League Baseball pitcher during the 2015 season up to that time. Eight of his strikeouts came on four or fewer pitches. It was Scherzer's second career shutout and only the third time that a Nationals pitcher had pitched a one-hit shutout, the previous two having been by Gio González and Jordan Zimmermann in 2013. Scherzer also became only the third Major League Baseball pitcher in history to pitch a one-hit shutout with 16 or more strikeouts and one walk or less, joining Nolan Ryan and Kerry Wood.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, June
On June 16, the Nationals had 23 hits in a 16–4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field, setting a record for the most hits by the team in a single game since the franchise moved to Washington for the 2005 season. Late in the game, the rookie Ross pinch-hit for designated hitter Yunel Escobar, the first time a pitcher had pinch-hit for a designated hitter in a Major League Baseball game since 1992.


2015 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, June
On June 18, Yunel Escobar went 5-for-5 at the plate in a game against the Rays at Nationals Park, the third 5-for-5 game of his career. It also was his third 5-for-5 game in the 2015 season, making him the first player in the history of the Montreal-Washington franchise to have three 5-for-5 games in a season and only the 20th Major League Baseball player to do so since 1914.