2018 WTA Awards
The 2018 WTA Awards are a series of awards given by the Women's Tennis Association to players who have achieved something remarkable during the 2018 WTA Tour.


2018 WTA Awards, The awards
These awards are decided by either the media, the players, the association, or the fans. Nominees were announced by the WTA's Twitter account and on the WTA official website.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy
The 2018 WTA Elite Trophy was a women's tennis tournament played at the Hengqin International Tennis Center in Zhuhai, China. It was the 4th edition of the singles event and doubles competition. The tournament was contested by twelve singles players and six doubles teams.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Tournament, Qualifying, Singles qualifying
The field consists of the top eleven players not already qualified for the 2018 WTA Finals, plus either (a) the 12th-player not qualified for 2018 WTA Finals, or (b) a wild card. The final two alternates for the 2018 WTA Finals will be eligible to play in WTA Elite Trophy even if they participate in the WTA Finals. Point totals are calculated by combining points obtained from sixteen tournaments. Of these sixteen tournaments, a player's results from the four Grand Slam events, the four Premier Mandatory tournaments, and (for Top 20 players at the end of 2018) the best results from two Premier 5 tournaments must be included.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Tournament, Qualifying, Doubles qualifying
Two teams composed of players that did not compete in the WTA Finals singles (except Finals Alternates) or doubles competitions, using the players’ combined doubles rankings as of the Monday after the final regular-season Tournament of the current Tour Year to determine the order of acceptance; and up to two teams composed of players that did not compete in the WTA Finals singles (except Finals Alternates) or doubles competitions and that include at least one Elite Trophy Singles Qualified Player or Elite Trophy Alternate, using the higher of the players’ combined singles or doubles rankings as of the Monday after the final regular-season Tournament of the current Tour Year to determine the order of acceptance. Plus two wild cards. For each wild card not given out, the next highest pair of players shall become a participant.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Tournament, Format
The singles event features twelve players in a round robin event, split into four groups of three. Over the first four days of competition, each player meets the other two players in her group, with the winner in each group advancing to the semifinal. The winners of each semifinal meet in the championship match. The six doubles teams will be split into two round robin groups, with the winner of each advancing to the final.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Tournament, Format, Round robin tie-breaking methods
The final standings of each group were determined by the first of the following methods that applied:


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Tournament, Global Ambassador
22 times majors winner, Steffi Graf will continue to be the event's global ambassador for the third consecutive year.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Prize money and points
The total prize money for the 2018 WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai is US$2,349,363 .


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Qualified Players, Singles
Daria Kasatkina had a breakthrough year making it to the top 10 for the first time. Kasatkina did not begin the year well, picking up her first win of the year at the Australian Open but fell in second round to Magda Linette. She bounced back by reaching the semifinals of the St. Petersburg Ladies' Trophy losing to Kristina Mladenovic. She reached her first final of the year at the Dubai Tennis Championships but lost to Elina Svitolina.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Qualified Players, Singles
She then followed it up by reaching the biggest final of her career at the BNP Paribas Open a Premier Mandatory event but fell to Naomi Osaka. Her clay court season was average, reaching the quarterfinals of the Mutua Madrid Open losing to eventual champion Petra Kvitová and reaching her first slam quarterfinal at the French Open but fell to Sloane Stephens. She backed up that slam performance, with a quarterfinal showing at the Wimbledon losing to Angelique Kerber.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Qualified Players, Singles
Following that performance, Kasatkina wasn't able to maintain her form failing to win back-to-back matches until the Asian swing including a second round loss at the US Open to Aliaksandra Sasnovich. However, she ended the year by winning her first title of the year at the Kremlin Cup defeating qualifier Ons Jabeur.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Qualified Players, Singles
Anastasija Sevastova began the year well by reaching the semifinals of the Brisbane International losing to Aliaksandra Sasnovich. Sevastova failed to make any impact in the rest of the hard court season including a second round to Maria Sharapova at the Australian Open. She did not reach her next semifinal until the Volvo Car Open losing to Julia Görges. She then had disappointing results once again including a first round loss at the French Open to Mariana Duque-Mariño. Being the defending champion at the Mallorca Open and reached the final but lost to German Tatjana Maria.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Qualified Players, Singles
Despite this, she lost in the first round of Wimbledon to Camila Giorgi. She bounced back by winning her first title of the year at the Bucharest Open defeating Petra Martić in straight sets in the final. She had relative success in his event preparing for the US Open. At the US Open, she reached her first slam semifinal after wins over Elina Svitolina and defending champion Sloane Stephens, but fell in the semifinals to Serena Williams. At the Asian swing, she reached her biggest final to date at the Premier Mandatory event of the China Open but lost to Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Qualified Players, Singles
Aryna Sabalenka had a breakthrough year, she started well by reaching the quarterfinals of the Shenzhen Open and Hobart International losing to Simona Halep and Lesia Tsurenko, respectively. However, at the Australian Open, she lost in the first round to Ashleigh Barty. She did not make any considerable result until the Ladies Open Lugano , where she reached the final but ended up losing to Belgian Elise Mertens. However, she did not pick up any main draw win in the rest of the clay season including losing in the first round of the French Open to Kiki Bertens.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Qualified Players, Singles
She then reached her first Premier final at the grass courts of the Eastbourne International losing to top seed Caroline Wozniacki. Her slam woes continued though, losing in the first round for the third time, this time at Wimbledon and to Mihaela Buzărnescu. At the Western & Southern Open, she made an impressive run, reaching the semifinal before losing to world no. 1 Halep. She followed it up by claiming her first career title at the Connecticut Open defeating Carla Suárez Navarro in the final, breaking into the top 20 with the win. She ended her slam failures, when she reached her first slam fourth round at the US Open losing to Naomi Osaka. She then won the biggest title of her career so far at the Wuhan Open defeating Estonion Anett Kontaveit in the final.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Qualified Players, Singles
Elise Mertens began the year perfectly by defending her title at the Hobart International defeating Mihaela Buzărnescu in the final. She carried this good form at the Australian Open, when she defeated 4th seed Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals to reach her first slam semifinals. In the semifinals, she lost in two close sets to Caroline Wozniacki. However, she failed to win back-to-back matches up until the clay season.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Qualified Players, Singles
She began the clay season excellently by winning 13 matches in a row, including the Ladies Open Lugano defeating Belorussian Aryna Sabalenka in the final, winning her two Fed Cup matches and winning the title at the Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem defeating Ajla Tomljanović. Her streak was ended by Simona Halep in the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open. At the French Open, she reached the fourth round but once again lost to Halep. At Wimbledon, she made the third round where she fell to Dominika Cibulková.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Qualified Players, Singles
At the US Open Series events, she reached the quarterfinals of both the Rogers Cup and Western & Southern Open losing to Elina Svitolina and Petra Kvitová, respectively. At the US Open, she yet again improved from her performance from the previous year by reaching the fourth round losing to Sloane Stephens.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Qualified Players, Singles
Julia Görges continued her winning streak from the end of the season by winning the ASB Classic defeating Caroline Wozniacki in the final. However, her 15 match winning streak was snapped when she was upset by Alizé Cornet in the second round of the Australian Open. However, she bounced back by reaching the semifinals of the St. Petersburg Ladies' Trophy losing to Petra Kvitová. She reached her second final of the year at the Volvo Car Open but lost to Dutch player Kiki Bertens.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Qualified Players, Singles
The rest of her clay season was uneventful failing to get past the third round of any event including a third round loss to Serena Williams at the French Open. At Wimbledon, she reached her first ever slam semifinals after defeating Kiki Bertens, but lost to Serena once again. She did not do anything special following this milestone until a semifinal showing at the Connecticut Open losing to Aryna Sabalenka. At the US Open she suffered a second round exit to Ekaterina Makarova. In the last regular event of the year, Görges claimed her second title of the year at the BGL Luxembourg Open defeating Belinda Bencic in the final.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Qualified Players, Singles
Madison Keys season was injury plagued as she did not do well outside of the slams and she also did not reach a single final in the year. At the Australian Open, she reached the quarterfinals without dropping a set but fell convincingly to Angelique Kerber. She then went into the French Open with only one semifinal in between the two slams when she reached the semifinals of the Volvo Car Open losing to Kiki Bertens. However, despite this she reached her first French Open semifinals again without dropping a set but fell to Sloane Stephens in straight sets. At Wimbledon she had an upsetting loss to Evgeniya Rodina in third round in three tight sets. Being a defending finalist at the US Open, Keys did quite well by reaching the semifinals but lost to Naomi Osaka.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Qualified Players, Singles
Garbiñe Muguruza entered 2018 as the 2nd ranked player but had a disappointing start of the season including a second round loss at the Australian Open to Hsieh Su-wei. Muguruza did well at the Middle East, when she reached her first final of the year at the Qatar Total Open but lost to Petra Kvitová and the semifinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships losing to Daria Kasatkina. She then claimed her first title of the year at the Monterrey Open defeating Tímea Babos in three sets in the final.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Qualified Players, Singles
She didn't perform too well in her next events up until the French Open losing to Simona Halep in the semifinals. She entered Wimbledon as the defending champion but suffered an upset loss in the second round to Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck. The rest of her event delivered disappointing results including a second round exit at the US Open to Czech qualifier Karolina Muchova. However, she was able to reach the semifinals of the Hong Kong Tennis Open losing to Wang Qiang.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Qualified Players, Singles
Caroline Garcia reached a career high of no. 4 in the world following the US Open. Garcia reached her first fourth round at the Australian Open in the beginning of the year losing to Madison Keys. She didn't perform well until the clay season reaching back-to-back semifinals at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and the Mutua Madrid Open losing to CoCo Vandeweghe and Kiki Bertens, respectively. She then reached the fourth round of the French Open losing to Angelique Kerber.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Qualified Players, Singles
At Wimbledon, she was upset by Belinda Bencic in the first round, her first first round loss in a slam since 2016 Australian Open. She then reached the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup losing to Simona Halep. At the US Open, she lost in the third round to Carla Suárez Navarro in a third set tiebreak. She suffered a massive ranking drop after failing to defend her titles at the China Open and Wuhan Open. However, she claimed her first title of the year at the Tianjin Open defeating Karolína Plíšková.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Qualified Players, Singles
Ashleigh Barty reached her first final of the year at the Sydney International, where she lost in straight sets to Angelique Kerber. At her home slam of the Australian Open, she was able to reach the third round losing to Japan's Naomi Osaka. Barty did not reach a semifinal until the week prior to the French Open, the Internationaux de Strasbourg, where she retired down a set due to a back injury. At the French Open, she unfortunate to draw a returning Serena Williams in the second round and lost in three sets.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Qualified Players, Singles
However, she bounced back by winning her second career title at the Nottingham Open defeating Johanna Konta in the final. Despite this she lost in the third round of Wimbledon to Daria Kasatkina. Her next event was at the Premier 5 event of the Rogers Cup, reaching the semifinals, she lost to world no. 1 Simona Halep. At the US Open, she reached the fourth round of a slam for the first time but lost to Karolína Plíšková in straight sets. As the defending finalist at the Wuhan Open, she was able to reach the semifinals losing to eventual champion Aryna Sabalenka.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Qualified Players, Singles
Anett Kontaveit brokethrough the top 20 in 2018. Kontaveit was able to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open losing to Carla Suárez Navarro. She wasn't able to win back-to-back matches until Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, reaching the semifinals before losing to Karolína Plíšková. At the Italian Open, she was able to reach her first Premier 5 semifinal, before losing to Elina Svitolina. She followed it up with another fourth round showing at a slam at the French Open losing to Sloane Stephens.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Qualified Players, Singles
At the grass season, she didn't win a match until Wimbledon, where she reached the third round losing to Alison Van Uytvanck. At the US Open, she was upset by Katerina Siniakova in the first round in three tight sets, despite serving for the match in the third set. At the Wuhan Open, she was able to reach her first Premier 5 final but lost convincingly to Aryna Sabalenka.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Qualified Players, Singles
Wang Qiang first half of the season was poor including a first round exit at the Australian Open to Madison Keys. She didn't win back-to-back matches until she reached the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open losing to world no. 1 Simona Halep. She the suffered many early loses following the Indian Wells result, but reached the third round of a slam for the first time at the French Open losing to Yulia Putintseva. At Wimbledon, she lost in the first round to compatriot Zheng Saisai.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Qualified Players, Singles
However, at the Jiangxi International Women's Tennis Open, she won her first career title revenging her Wimbledon loss when she defeated Zheng in the final. However, she wasn't able to sustain this form failing to win a main draw match until the US Open, where she lost in the third round to Elina Svitolina. Her Asian swing results were impressive, which began with her second career title at the Guangzhou International Women's Open defeating Yulia Putintseva in the final.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Qualified Players, Singles
She then reached the semifinals of the Wuhan Open and China Open, losing to eventual champions Aryna Sabalenka and Caroline Wozniacki, respectively. This is her first Premier 5 and Mandatory semifinals. She then reached her third final of the year at the Hong Kong Tennis Open but suffered her first final loss to Dayana Yastremska.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Qualified Players, Singles
Zhang Shuai was the wildcard recipient for the event. Her best result of the year is reaching the semifinals of three international events, at the J&T Banka Prague Open losing to Petra Kvitová, Japan Women's Open losing to Amanda Anisimova and the Hong Kong Tennis Open losing to Dayana Yastremska. She was also able to reach the quarterfinals of the China Open losing to Naomi Osaka. At the slams she lost in the second rounds of the Australian Open and French Open to Denisa Allertová and Irina-Camelia Begu, respectively. Also, in the first rounds of Wimbledon to Andrea Petkovic and US Open to Garbiñe Muguruza.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Points Breakdown, 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.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Points Breakdown, Singles
‡ The player was not a Top 20 player at the end of 2017 and therefore not required to count her two best Premier 5 results. Accordingly, the player's next best result is counted in its place.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy, Points Breakdown, Singles
± Muguruza incurred a zero-point penalty for her late withdrawal from Montreal since she was a top 10 player at the end of 2017.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy – Doubles
Duan Yingying and Han Xinyun were the defending champions, but did not participate this year.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy – Doubles
Lyudmyla and Nadiia Kichenok won the title, defeating Shuko Aoyama and Lidziya Marozava in the final, 6–4, 3–6, [10–7].


2018 WTA Elite Trophy – Singles
Julia Görges was the defending champion, but she lost in the semifinals to Ashleigh Barty.


2018 WTA Elite Trophy – Singles
Barty went on to win the title, defeating Wang Qiang in the final, 6–3, 6–4.


2018 WTA Finals
The 2018 WTA Finals, also known by its sponsored name BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore, was a women's tennis tournament held in Kallang, Singapore. It was the 48th edition of the singles event and the 43rd edition of the doubles competition. The tournament was contested by eight singles players and eight doubles teams. This was the final year for Singapore to hold this tournament.


2018 WTA Finals, Tournament
The 2018 WTA Finals took place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium the week of October 21, 2018, and was the 48th edition of the event. This was the final year in which Singapore hosted the event. The tournament was run by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) as part of the 2018 WTA Tour. Singapore was the ninth city to host the WTA Finals since its inauguration in 1972.


2018 WTA Finals, Tournament, Qualifying
In singles, point totals are calculated by combining point totals from sixteen tournaments. Of these sixteen tournaments, a player's results from the four Grand Slam events, the four Premier Mandatory tournaments, and (for Top 20 players at the end of 2017) the best results from two Premier 5 tournaments must be included. In doubles, point totals are calculated by any combination of eleven tournaments throughout the year. Unlike in singles, this combination does not need to include results from the Grand Slams or Premier-level tournaments.


2018 WTA Finals, Tournament, Format
The singles event features eight players in a round robin event, split into two groups of four. Over the first four days of competition, each player meets the other three players in her group, with the top two in each group advancing to the semifinals. The first-placed player in one group meets the second-placed player in the other group, and vice versa. The winners of each semifinal meet in the championship match. The doubles event returns to a single elimination event. The winners of each quarterfinal match will advance to the semifinals and the winners of each semifinal match will advance to the final.


2018 WTA Finals, Prize money and points
The total prize money for the BNP Paribas 2018 WTA Finals was US$7,000,000.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
Simona Halep began the year by winning the Shenzhen Open, defeating Kateřina Siniaková in the final in three sets. She then competed at the Australian Open and reached the finals after saving match points in her third round match against Lauren Davis and semifinal match against Angelique Kerber. However, she lost in the final to Caroline Wozniacki in three tight sets, also losing the number 1 ranking to Wozniacki. She then lost in the semifinals of her next two events, the Qatar Open and BNP Paribas Open to Garbiñe Muguruza and Naomi Osaka, respectively. At the Miami Open, she fell in the third round to Agnieszka Radwańska.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
At the start of the clay season, Halep did not have good results, only reaching the quarterfinals at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and the Mutua Madrid Open, with both losses coming in straight sets to CoCo Vandeweghe and Karolína Plíšková, respectively. Halep was able to bounce back at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia reaching the final but losing to Elina Svitolina, winning only four games in the match. At the French Open, Halep won the biggest title of her career and her first Grand Slam title, defeating reigning US Open champion Sloane Stephens after coming back from a set down. However, Halep did not have much luck at the grass courts of Wimbledon, losing in the third round to Hsieh Su-wei after failing to take advantage of a set lead.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
At the American hard court season, Halep started out by reaching back-to-back finals. She won the Rogers Cup by defeating Stephens again in a rematch of the French Open final. However, she lost the final of the Western & Southern Open to Kiki Bertens despite having a match point. This loss was a start of a bad stretch for the Romanian as she became the first top seed to lose in the first round of the US Open when she fell to Kaia Kanepi.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
She then lost her opening round matches at the Wuhan Open and China Open, giving her a four match losing streak coming into the WTA Finals. However, she announced that she would withdraw from the event because of an ongoing back injury. Even though, Halep secured the year-end No. 1 for a second consecutive year.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
Angelique Kerber began her season at the Hopman Cup to represent Germany with Alexander Zverev but lost in the final to Switzerland. At the Sydney International, Kerber claimed her first title since winning the 2016 US Open defeating local favorite Ashleigh Barty in straight sets. At the Australian Open, Kerber was able to reach the semifinals of a slam for the first time since her US Open triumph but lost to Simona Halep in three sets after failing to convert two match points she had in the final set.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
She then played in the middle east, where lost in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Total Open losing to then World no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in three sets and to Elina Svitolina at the Dubai Tennis Championships in the semifinals. She then reached back-to-back quarterfinals at the BNP Paribas Open and Miami Open falling to Daria Kasatkina and Sloane Stephens, respectively.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
During the clay court season, Kerber had good results reaching the quarterfinals of Internazionali BNL d'Italia and French Open losing to eventual champions Svitolina and Halep, Respectively. At the grass season, Kerber suffered an upset in the hands of Alison Riske in the first round of the Mallorca Open, but she bounced back by reaching the semifinals of Eastbourne International losing to top seed Caroline Wozniacki. At Wimbledon, Kerber won her third grand slam title and her first at the event defeating Serena Williams in the final in straight sets.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
This means Kerber has won 3 of the 4 slams, only missing the French Open. After her slam triumph, Kerber had poor results winning only 6 of her next 11 matches, losing early in Rogers Cup, Western & Southern Open, US Open, Wuhan Open and China Open, failing to reach a single quarterfinal.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
On 2 October, Naomi Osaka was announced to be making her debut at the event as the third qualifier.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
Naomi Osaka began the year at the Hobart International with a first round loss to Yulia Putintseva. At the Australian Open, she made it to the fourth round with wins over 2 top 20 players but fell to Simona Halep. She suffered early loses at the Qatar Total Open and Dubai Tennis Championships. Osaka made her breakthrough at the BNP Paribas Open, winning her first title in the event defeating Daria Kasatkina in the final and defeating top 5 players Karolína Plíšková and Halep along the way.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
However, she fell to Elina Svitolina at the second round of the Miami Open after defeating her childhood idol Serena Williams. Osaka did not have much success during the clay season only winning back-to-back matches at the Volvo Car Open and French Open, reaching the third round losing to Julia Görges and Madison Keys, respectively. During the grass season, Osaka was able to reach the semifinals of Nottingham Open to eventual champion Ashleigh Barty and the third round of Wimbledon losing to eventual champion Angelique Kerber.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
At the US Open Series, prior to the US Open she suffered a three match losing streak, with her only win coming in the Citi Open. However at the US Open, Osaka claimed her first grand slam title despite her poor preparation to the tournament. In the final she defeated Serena Williams in straight sets. Osaka followed this triumph with a final showing at her home event of the Toray Pan Pacific Open losing to Karolína Plíšková in the final. She then reached the semifinals of the China Open losing to Anastasija Sevastova.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
On October 4, Petra Kvitová and Caroline Wozniacki booked their spots to the WTA Finals.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
Petra Kvitová opened her season in Sydney, losing to qualifier Camila Giorgi in the second round. She followed this up with a first-round loss at the Australian Open to Andrea Petkovic. She found form in St. Petersburg Ladies' Trophy defeating Kristina Mladenovic in the final, before winning a second title two weeks later at the Qatar Total Open with a three-set victory over Garbiñe Muguruza. She was unable to continue this form in BNP Paribas Open and Miami Open, losing in the second round and fourth round to Amanda Anisimova and Jeļena Ostapenko respectively.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
Kvitová's clay court season also began slowly, falling in the first round of Volvo Car Open and Porsche Tennis Grand Prix to Kristýna Plíšková and Angelique Kerber, respectively. However, she quickly turned her form around, winning her third and fourth titles of the year at J&T Banka Prague Open and Mutua Madrid Open, defeating Mihaela Buzărnescu and Kiki Bertens in the respective finals. She then lost in the third round of the French Open to Anett Kontaveit.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
Kvitová claimed her fifth title of the season on the grass courts of Birmingham, defeating Magdaléna Rybáriková in the final. At Wimbledon, she lost her first-round match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich. Her next two tournaments in Rogers Cup and Western & Southern Open ended in the third round and semi-finals respectively, both at the hands of Kiki Bertens. She made the quarterfinals of the Connecticut Open, where she retired against Carla Suárez Navarro. At the US Open, her slam results continue to disappoint as she lost in the third round to Aryna Sabalenka. She also lost in the third round of the Wuhan Open to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and the first round of the China Open to Daria Gavrilova.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
Caroline Wozniacki began her season at the ASB Classic losing the final to Julia Görges. She then went on to win her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open. She saved two match points in the second round against Jana Fett, before going on to defeat Simona Halep in the final. This win returned Wozniacki to World No. 1 for the first time since 2012.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
After reaching the quarterfinals of St. Petersburg Ladies' Trophy losing to Daria Kasatkina and the semi-finals in Qatar Total Open losing to Petra Kvitová, Wozniacki was unable to progress far in BNP Paribas Open and Miami Open, losing in the fourth round and second round to Daria Kasatkina and Monica Puig respectively.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
Wozniacki had a relatively quiet clay-court swing, suffering quarterfinal losses at the İstanbul Cup to Pauline Parmentier and Italian Open to Kiki Bertens as well as a third round loss in Mutua Madrid Open to Anett Kontaveit. At the French Open, she fell in the fourth round, losing to Daria Kasatkina for the third time on the season. Wozniacki won her second title of the year in Eastbourne International, defeating Aryna Sabalenka in the final. She was unable to find the same success at Wimbledon, suffering a second-round loss to Ekaterina Makarova.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
Opening round losses in Rogers Cup to Sabalenka and Western & Southern Open to Bertens were followed by an early exit at the US Open, falling to Lesia Tsurenko in the second round in straight sets. The poor results continued for Wozniacki in Toray Pan Pacific Open and Wuhan Open, where she lost in the second round at both tournaments to Camila Giorgi and Puig. However, she turned her form around in Beijing, where she defeated Anastasija Sevastova in the final, claiming her first Premier Mandatory title in over seven years, doing so without dropping a set all tournament.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
On 14 October, Sloane Stephens was announced to be making her debut at the event as the sixth qualifier.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
Sloane Stephens was unable to find her form in the opening season, losing both first rounds of Sydney International and Australian Open to Camila Giorgi and Zhang Shuai. After reaching the quarterfinals of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel losing to Stefanie Vögele and third round of the BNP Paribas Open losing to Daria Kasatkina. She bounced back by winning her first Mandatory title at Miami Open by defeating Jeļena Ostapenko in straight sets. With her performance, she also made her top ten debut. It turned out that Stephens' clay court was inconsistent.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
She won both her Fed Cup matches against France, defeating Kristina Mladenovic and Pauline Parmentier. However she compiled a 4-4 record prior to the French Open, suffering an opening round losses at Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and Nürnberg to CoCo Vandeweghe and Yulia Putintseva and third round losses at Mutua Madrid Open and Italian Open to Karolína Plíšková and Caroline Garcia. However, she made it to the final at the French Open, where she lost to the World No. 1 Simona Halep in three sets.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
Stephens did not carry any momentum into the grass-court season, losing at Wimbledon to Donna Vekić in the first round in her only event. Nonetheless, she moved up to career-high No. 3 after the tournament. During the US Open Series, she started with a second round loss to Andrea Petkovic at the Citi Open. She bounced back by reaching the final of the Rogers Cup in a rematch of the French Open but lost to Halep ounce again. At the third round of the Western & Southern Open she lost to Elise Mertens.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
At the rematch of last years quarterfinal of the US Open against Anastasija Sevastova, Stephens failed to defend her title and lost in the quarterfinals. After losing in the first round in both the Toray Pan Pacific Open and Wuhan Open, Stephens presented a third round performance at the China Open losing to Dominika Cibulková. She then received a wildcard at the Kremlin Cup but fell in the second round to Ons Jabeur after receiving a bye.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
On 17 October, Elina Svitolina and Karolína Plíšková became the last qualifiers.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
Elina Svitolina had an excellent start to the year, claiming the Brisbane International title, defeating Belarussian Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the final for the loss of just three games. Her good form continued until the Australian Open quarterfinals, where she was upset by Elise Mertens. A third round loss to eventual champion Petra Kvitová in Doha was quickly followed by a successful defence of her title in Dubai. Her momentum stuttered at the first Premier Mandatory events of  the season, losing to Carla Suárez Navarro in the third round of Indian Wells and Jeļena Ostapenko in the quarterfinals of Miami.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
Her clay court season began with a defeat to Caroline Garcia in the quarterfinals of Stuttgart, and a second defeat of the year to Suárez Navarro in the second round of Madrid. This was followed by her third title of the year, and second consecutive in Rome, brushing aside World Number 1 Simona Halep in the final. At the French Open, however, despite her momentum she suffered a surprise defeat at the hands of Mihaela Buzărnescu in the third round.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
Svitolina's transition onto grass courts proved to be a stumbling block for her campaign, once again losing to Buzărnescu in the quarterfinals of Birmingham, followed by a loss to Tatjana Maria in the first round of Wimbledon. She did, however, regain some momentum entering the US Open Series, reaching the semifinals of the Rogers Cup, where she was the defending champion, losing to Sloane Stephens, and subsequently the quarterfinals in Cincinnati, losing there to eventual champion Kiki Bertens.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
She rounded out her 2018 Grand Slam campaign with a second successive round of 16 appearance at the US Open, losing to Anastasija Sevastova in three sets. A disappointing Asian swing ensued for Svitolina, as she lost back-to-back opening round matches in Wuhan, to eventual champion Aryna Sabalenka, and Beijing to Aleksandra Krunić. A quarterfinal defeat to Wang Qiang in Hong Kong meant that qualification for Singapore depended on the performances of her competitors in Moscow.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
Karolína Plíšková began her year at the Brisbane International reaching the semifinals, losing to Elina Svitolina. At the first slam of the year, Pliskova was able to replicate her performance the previous year by reaching the quarterfinals before losing to Simona Halep. At the Middle East, Pliskova received an upset loss to Catherine Bellis in the third round of the Qatar Total Open and fell to Angelique Kerber in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
At the back-to-back Mandatory events of BNP Paribas Open and Miami Open, she was able to reached the quarterfinals losing to Naomi Osaka and Victoria Azarenka, respectively. Pliskova was able to win her first title of the year at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix defeating Coco Vandeweghe in the final. At the Mutua Madrid Open, she was able to continue her good run, but eventually fell to Petra Kvitova in the semifinals. At the Italian Open, Pliskova suffered a controversial loss to Maria Sakkari in her opening round match. At the clay slam of the French Open, Pliskova failed to replicate her success the previous year, falling in two quick sets to Maria Sharapova.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
During the grass season, Pliskova once again lost to Magdaléna Rybáriková in the opening round of Birmingham Classic. Pliskova was more fortunate at the Eastbourne International reaching the quarterfinals losing to Aryna Sabalenka. At Wimbledon, Pliskova was able to reach the fourth round, thus breaking her streak of 5-consecutive second round exits, but fell to Kiki Bertens. Her results at the US Open Series were disappointing, losing in the second rounds of Rogers Cup and Western & Southern Open to Bertens and Sabalenka, respectively. She then fell to Ekaterina Makarova in her opening round at the Connecticut Open.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
However, despite this results, she was able to reach the quarterfinals of the US Open without dropping a set but lost to Serena Williams. She claimed her second title of the year at the Toray Pan Pacific Open defeating US Open champion and local hero Naomi Osaka in the final. However, she suffered back-to-back loses to Wang Qiang in the second round of Wuhan Open and third round of China Open. At the Tianjin Open, she was able to reach the final but lost to Caroline Garcia. In her last regular event of the year, the 2018 Kremlin Cup, she lost to Vera Zvonareva in the second round.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
On 18 October, Kiki Bertens secured the final spot after Simona Halep withdrew.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
Kiki Bertens opened the year with a first round loss at the Brisbane International to Ana Konjuh. She followed this up by reaching the second round of the Sydney International, where she lost to the top seed Garbiñe Muguruza. At the Australian Open, Bertens fell to world No. 2 and eventual winner, Caroline Wozniacki in the third round. She then had a poor run, losing in her opening matches at St. Petersburg Ladies' Trophy, Dubai Tennis Championships and BNP Paribas Open, losing to Vera Zvonareva, Wang Qiang and Serena Williams, respectively.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
She eventually won a match and broke her 4 match losing streak at the Miami Open but fell in the third round to Venus Williams. She bounced back by winning her first Premier title defeating Julia Görges in straight sets in the final of the Volvo Car Open. At the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, she fell in the first round to eventual champion Karolína Plíšková. However, at the Madrid Open she reached her first Premier Mandatory final but fell to Petra Kvitova. Despite this, she was upset by Maria Sakkari in the first round of the Italian Open. She tried to pick up form at the Nürnberger Versicherungscup but lost to Kirsten Flipkens in the quarterfinals. At the French Open, Bertens fell to Angelique Kerber in two tight tie-break sets in the third round.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
During the grass season, Bertens' preparation for Wimbledon was not ideal with back-to-back loses in the second round of the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships and opening match at the Eastbourne International, losing to Flipkens and Mihaela Buzărnescu, respectively. Despite this, Bertens impressed at Wimbledon reaching the quarterfinals, where she lost to Julia Görges, but achieved a career best at Wimbledon so far by reaching the last eight. During the US Open Series, Bertens reached the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup before losing to 15th seed Ashleigh Barty.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Singles
The following week, she won the biggest title of her career at the Western & Southern Open defeating Simona Halep in the final after saving match points in the second set. However, her US Open ended in disappointment when she lost in the third round to Markéta Vondroušová in a third set tie-break. She then claimed her third title of the year at the Korea Open defeating Ajla Tomljanović in the final. However, she suffered early loses at the second round of the Wuhan Open and third round of the China Open to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Kateřina Siniaková respectively. Her poor results continued with back-to-back losses at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz second round and Kremlin Cup first round to Margarita Gasparyan and Aliaksandra Sasnovich, respectively.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
On August 9, the team of Barbora Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková qualified for the first time to the event.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
Barbora Krejčíková & Kateřina Siniaková began the year with a final showing at the Shenzhen Open losing to the Romanian team of Begu/Halep in a match tiebreak. Their next final came at the Miami Open but once again fell but this time to the team of Barty/Vandeweghe in two quick sets. At the French Open, despite only winning one clay match during the lead up events, they were able to claim their first grand slam title defeating the Japanese duo of Hozumi/Ninomiya in straight sets.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
They followed up this victory by winning their second slam at Wimbledon defeating the team of Melichar/Peschke in three sets winning the final set in a bagel. This win comes five years after their girls doubles win at the same event. After having a poor lead up to the US Open winning only a match, they were able to reach the semifinals, however their grand slam streak was ended by Barty & Vandeweghe in two tight sets. The team is making their debut into the event.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
On August 20, the pairing of Tímea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic was announced as the second qualifier.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
Tímea Babos & Kristina Mladenovic began their 2018 campaign by winning the Australian Open defeating the Russian pairing of Makarova/Vesnina in straight sets. They did not reach another final until the clay season at the Mutua Madrid Open facing once again Makarova/Vesnina but this time they end up losing in a match tiebreak. At the French Open they lost to the unseeded Japanese team of Hozumi/Ninomiya in the quarterfinals. However, they bounced back by claiming their second title at the Birmingham Classic defeating Mertens/Schuurs in the final.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
At Wimbledon, they suffered another upset at the quarterfinals falling to the unseeded pair Rosolska/Spears. During their US Open lead up events, they racked a record of two wins and two losses. However, they bounced back at the US Open by reaching the final but lost to Barty/Vandeweghe in three sets including two tiebreaks in the final two sets. Babos also reached the final of the Mixed Doubles at the Australian Open pairing with Rohan Bopanna, but lost to Dabrowski/Pavić.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
On the September 29, the teams of Andrea Sestini Hlaváčková/Barbora Strýcová and Elise Mertens/Demi Schuurs occupied the next two slots into the event.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
Andrea Sestini Hlaváčková & Barbora Strýcová did not start playing together until the Miami Open, where they lost their first match. However, they were able to make an impact as a team at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, when they reached the final but lost to the team of Barty/Schuurs. They followed that up with semifinal showing at the French Open falling to eventual champions Krejčíková/Siniaková. Their grass season was uneventful failing to win a match on the lead up tournaments to Wimbledon and falling in the third round of Wimbledon to Mattek-Sands/Šafářová.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
They struggled in the Premier 5 events of the US Open Series but bounced back with their first title of the year at the Connecticut Open defeating Hsieh/Siegemund in the final. At the US Open, they suffered a third round upset to Barty/Vandeweghe. However they were able to bounce back by reaching three back-to-back finals losing the first two at the Toray Pan Pacific Open to Hozumi/Ninomiya and at the Wuhan Open to Mertens/Schuurs. However, they claimed their second title of the year at the China Open defeating Dabrowski/Xu in a match tiebreak. Strýcová also won the title at the Miami Open pairing with Hsieh Su-wei defeating Makarova/Vesnina and Sestini Hlaváčková reached the final of Sydney International with Latisha Chan losing to Dabrowski/Xu.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
Elise Mertens and Demi Schuurs began the year by winning the Hobart International defeating Kichenok/Ninomiya in straight sets. They failed to win back-to-back matches until the Miami Open when they reached the semifinals losing to Krejčíková/ Siniaková. After failing to win a match during the clay season, they followed it up by winning the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships defeating Bertens/Flipkens and the final of the Birmingham Classic losing to Babos/Mladenovic. Their next final came at the hard courts of the Western & Southern Open but lost to the team of Hradecká/Makarova.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
They won their third and biggest title of the year at the Wuhan Open defeating the Czech team of Sestini Hlaváčková/Strýcová. Mertens also won the Ladies Open Lugano teaming up with compatriot Kirsten Flipkens defeating Belorussian team of Lapko/Sabalenka. While Schuurs on the other hand had a perfect record playing with Australian Ashleigh Barty winning the Premier 5 events of Internazionali BNL d'Italia defeating Sestini Hlaváčková/Strýcová and the Rogers Cup defeating Makarova/Chan. Schuurs also won the Brisbane International with Kiki Bertens and the Nürnberger Versicherungscup with Katarina Srebotnik defeating Klepač/Martínez Sánchez and Flipkens/Larsson.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
On October 4, following the withdrawal of Ekaterina Makarova & Elena Vesnina from the event, the final four slots were occupied by the teams of Gabriela Dabrowski/Xu Yifan, Nicole Melichar/Květa Peschke, Andreja Klepač/María José Martínez Sánchez and Ashleigh Barty/CoCo Vandeweghe.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
Gabriela Dabrowski & Xu Yifan won their first title of the year at the Sydney International defeating Chan/Sestini Hlaváčková in straight sets. They followed that up with semifinal showing at the Australian Open but lost to Makarova/Vesnina. They did not reach another semifinal until BNP Paribas Open when they lost to Hsieh/Strýcová. Their clay court season was not so good having a 3-4 result in it. However, they were able to bounce back at the Eastbourne International winning the title over the Romanian pairing of Begu/Buzărnescu and reaching the semifinal of Wimbledon losing to runner-ups Melichar/Peschke in three tight sets.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
Their next final came at the China Open when they lost to Czech duo of Sestini Hlaváčková/Strýcová. Dabrowski also won the title at the Qatar Total Open with Jeļena Ostapenko defeating Klepač/Martínez Sánchez. She also had success in the Mixed Doubles reaching the finals twice teaming up with Mate Pavić defeating Babos/Bopanna at the Australian Open and losing to Chan/Dodig at the French Open.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
Nicole Melichar & Květa Peschke did not start to have an impact this year until they reached back-to-back finals at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix losing to Atawo/Grönefeld and of the J&T Banka Prague Open defeating Buzărnescu/Marozava. Their next real breakthrough came at Wimbledon reaching the finals but came short against Krejčíková/Siniaková losing the third and final set in a bagel. They then reach the semifinal of the Rogers Cup but lost to Barty/Schuurs. They then reached back to back quarterfinals of the Wuhan Open and China Open. Peschke also won the title at the Silicon Valley Classic teaming up with Latisha Chan defeating Kichenok/Kichenok. Melichar also won the Mixed doubles of Wimbledon with Alexander Peya defeating Murray/Azarenka in the final.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
Andreja Klepač & María José Martínez Sánchez did not have a great start of the year with early round exits. It wasn't until the Qatar Total Open when they reached their first final but lost to Dabrowski/Ostapenko in straight sets. Even with that result they struggled before they reached the final of the Volvo Car Open but again end up losing this time to Kudryavtseva/Srebotnik. They then reached the semifinal of the Mutua Madrid Open losing to Makarova/Vesnina. They captured their first title of the year at the Mallorca Open defeating Czechs Šafářová/Štefková. Their next best result came at the Rogers cup with a semifinal loss to Chan/Makarova.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
Ashleigh Barty & CoCo Vandeweghe did not play a lot of tournaments throughout the year only playing seven tournaments together but they ended up winning two big titles the Miami Open defeating Krejčíková/ Siniaková in the final and their first grand slam title as a pair and as individual when they captured the US Open defeating Babos/Mladenovic in the final. Barty also paired with Demi Schuurs and had a perfect record playing together winning the Premier 5 events of Internazionali BNL d'Italia defeating Sestini Hlaváčková/Strýcová and the Rogers Cup defeating Makarova/Chan.


2018 WTA Finals, Qualified players, Doubles
Ekaterina Makarova & Elena Vesnina  would have qualified for the event but had to withdraw due to Vesnina's pregnancy. The team only played together up to the Mutua Madrid Open where they won the title defeating Babos/Mladenovic in the final. They also reached two other finals but ended up losing, at the Australian Open to Babos/Mladenovic and at the BNP Paribas Open to Hsieh/Strýcová. Makarova also reached back-to-back week finals at the Rogers Cup teaming up with Latisha Chan but lost to Barty/Schuurs and the Western & Southern Open won the title with Lucie Hradecká, defeating Mertens/Schuurs in the final.


2018 WTA Finals, Groupings, Singles
The 2018 finals featured five major champions and one finalist. The competitors were divided into two groups, representing the colors of the flag of Singapore.


2018 WTA Finals, Player head-to-head, Singles
Below are the head-to-head records as they approached the tournament. 2018 WTA Finals – Singles


2018 WTA Finals, Player head-to-head, Doubles
Below are the head-to-head records as they approached the tournament. 2018 WTA Finals – Doubles


2018 WTA Finals – Doubles
Tímea Babos and Andrea Sestini Hlaváčková were the defending champions, but did not qualify together this year. Sestini Hlaváčková teamed up with Barbora Strýcová, but lost in the semifinals to Barbora Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková.


2018 WTA Finals – Doubles
Babos successfully defended her title alongside Kristina Mladenovic, defeating Krejčíková and Siniaková in the final, 6–4, 7–5.


2018 WTA Finals – Doubles
Krejčiková and Siniaková jointly secured the year-end WTA no. 1 doubles ranking by reaching the final. Babos and Mladenovic alongside Barbora Strýcová were also in contention for the top ranking at the beginning of the tournament.


2018 WTA Finals – Singles
Caroline Wozniacki was the defending champion, but she was eliminated in the round-robin stage.


2018 WTA Finals – Singles
Elina Svitolina won the title, defeating Sloane Stephens in the final, 3–6, 6–2, 6–2. Svitolina became the first Ukrainian in history to triumph at this tournament, and the first player to win the tournament while going undefeated since Serena Williams in 2013. This was also the first time since 2013 that both finalists went undefeated in the round robin stage of the competition.


2018 WTA Finals – Singles
Naomi Osaka, Stephens and Kiki Bertens made their debuts in the event.


2018 WTA Finals – Singles
For the first time since the current round robin format was reintroduced in 2003, the first two matches played in each group were all won by the lower-ranked player. It also the first time that the top four seeds were eliminated in the round robin stage, leaving the fifth to eighth seeds to qualify for the semifinals.


2018 WTA Finals – Singles, Draw, Red Group
† Following WTA rules, Osaka's retirement against Bertens was counted as a straight-set loss in determining round robin standings.


2018 WTA Finals – Singles, Draw, White Group
Standings are determined by: 1) Number of wins; 2) Number of matches; 3) In two-player ties, head-to-head records; 4) In three-player ties, (a) percentage of sets won (head-to-head records if two players remain tied), then (b) percentage of games won (head-to-head records if two players remain tied), then (c) WTA rankings


2018 WTA Premier tournaments
The 2018 WTA Premier tournaments are 21 of the tennis tournaments on the 2018 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.


2018 WTA Shenzhen Open
The 2018 Shenzhen Open (known as 2018 Shenzhen Gemdale Open for sponsorship reason) was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the sixth edition of the Shenzhen Open, and part of the WTA International tournaments of the 2018 WTA Tour. It took place at the Shenzhen Longgang Sports Center in Shenzhen, China, from 1 to 7 January 2018.


2018 WTA Shenzhen Open, Points and prize money, Prize money
1 Qualifiers prize money is also the Round of 32 prize money* per team


2018 WTA Shenzhen Open, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2018 WTA Shenzhen Open, Doubles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw:


2018 WTA Shenzhen Open – Doubles
Andrea Sestini Hlaváčková and Peng Shuai were the defending champions, but Sestini Hlaváčková chose to compete in Brisbane instead and Peng chose not to participate this year.


2018 WTA Shenzhen Open – Doubles
Irina-Camelia Begu and Simona Halep won the title, defeating Barbora Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková in the final, 1–6, 6–1, [10–8].


2018 WTA Shenzhen Open – Singles
Simona Halep won the title, defeating defending champion Kateřina Siniaková in the final, 6–1, 2–6, 6–0.


2018 WTA Tour
The 2018 WTA Tour was the elite professional tennis circuit organised by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for the  2018 tennis season. The 2018 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 Tour Championships and the WTA Elite Trophy). Also included in the 2018 calendar is the Hopman Cup, which is organized by the ITF and does not distribute ranking points.


2018 WTA Tour, Schedule
This is the complete schedule of events on the 2018 calendar, with player progression documented from the quarterfinals stage.


2018 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 2018 WTA Tour: the Grand Slam tournaments, the year-end championships (the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Elite Trophy), the WTA Premier tournaments (Premier Mandatory, Premier 5, and regular Premier), and the WTA International tournaments. The players/nations are sorted by:


2018 WTA Tour, Statistical information
1) total number of titles (a doubles title won by two players representing the same nation counts as only one win for the nation);


2018 WTA Tour, Statistical information
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);


2018 WTA Tour, Statistical information, Titles information
The following players won their first main circuit title in singles, doubles, or mixed doubles:


2018 WTA Tour, Statistical information, Titles information
The following players defended a main circuit title in singles, doubles, or mixed doubles:


2018 WTA Tour, Statistical information, Best ranking
The following players achieved their career high ranking in this season inside top 50 (in bold the players who entered the top 10 for the first time):


2018 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 2018 season.


2018 WTA Tour, Points distribution
S = singles players, D = doubles teams, Q = qualification players. * Assumes undefeated Round Robin match record.


2018 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 top 100 [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 2018 season:


2018 WTA Tour, Comebacks
Following are notable players who will come back after retirements during the 2018 WTA Tour season:


2018 WV1
2018 WV1 is a very small asteroid and near-Earth object of the Apollo group that passed within 27,000 kilometers (17,000 miles) of the Earth's surface on 2 December 2018. It was first observed on 29 November 2018 by Hannes Gröller with the Catalina Sky Survey at Catalina Station on Mount Bigelow, Arizona, in the United States.


2018 WV1, Orbit
2018 WV1 orbits the Sun at a distance of 0.98–1.10 AU once every 387 days (semi-major axis of 1.04 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.06 and an inclination of 2° with respect to the ecliptic.


2018 WV1, Orbit
As an Apollo asteroid with an orbital period slightly larger than that of the Earth, its orbit is very similar to that of the Earth, indicating that the object is a piece of lunar ejecta, a fragment of the Moon that was ejected into space when a larger asteroid hit the Moon a long time ago.


2018 WV1, 2018 flyby
On 2 December 2018, the asteroid passed about 33,000 km (21,000 mi) from Earth, traveling 5.2 kilometres per second (3.2 mi/s) relative to Earth and briefly reaching apparent magnitude 17. This was the third-closest approach by an asteroid in 2018, and the 70th asteroid of the year that passed within 1 lunar distance of Earth. Its absolute magnitude of 30.1 indicates a diameter between 2.5 and 5.6 metres.


2018 WV1, 2018 flyby
2018 WV1 remains inside the Earth's sphere of influence from 27 November till 7 December 2018. During the flyby, its orbital period changes from 1.13 to 1.06 years.


2018 WV1, 2018 flyby
At the time of its discovery, 2018 WV1 had a 2% chance to hit Earth in early December 2018. The possibility of impact was ruled out soon after, as more data became available.


2018 WV1, Other flybys
2018 WV1 will pass within 0.38 AU (57,000,000 km) of Earth in December 2019.


2018 WV1, Other flybys
With a short observation arc of 1.69 days, the asteroid is on the Sentry risk list, with a probability of 1 in 11,000 for an impact between 2085 and 2118.


2018 WV1, Other flybys, Flyby gallery
Its closest approach will be between the earth and sun, so can't be observed.


2018 WV1, Other flybys, Flyby gallery
Animation of 2018 WV1 orbit around Earth   Moon ·    Earth ·    2018 WV1


2018 WV1, Other flybys, Flyby gallery
Animation of 2018 WV1 orbit around Sun from 2017 to 2021   Sun ·    Earth ·    2018 WV1


2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up
The 2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up was the twelfth WWE draft, produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE between the Raw and SmackDown brands. Instead of a traditional draft, changes between the brands were made behind the scenes, with moving wrestlers simply appearing on a brand's show or announced via WWE's website or social medias. The two-day event took place on the April 16 and April 17 episodes of Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live, respectively, on the USA Network in the United States. Raw was broadcast from Hartford, Connecticut at the XL Center, and SmackDown was broadcast from the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island.


2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up, Background
The WWE Draft is an annual process used by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE while a brand extension, or brand split, is in effect. The original brand extension occurred from 2002 to 2011, while the second and current brand split began in 2016. During a brand extension, the company divides its roster into brands where the wrestlers exclusively perform for each brand's respective television show, and the draft is used to refresh the rosters of the brand divisions, typically between the Raw and SmackDown brands.


2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up, Background
In 2017, WWE rebranded the draft as the Superstar Shake-up to replace the traditional draft the company had done in 2016. On the April 9, 2018 episode of Monday Night Raw, WWE announced another Superstar Shake-up for the April 16 and 17 episodes of Raw and SmackDown, respectively. Instead of a traditional draft, the commissioners and general managers of Raw and SmackDown made trades and other deals behind the scenes between their respective talent, which also included the promotion and drafting of wrestlers from the NXT brand. On April 10, Paige, who had retired from in-ring competition the previous night, was introduced as SmackDown's new general manager. She replaced Daniel Bryan, who returned to being a full-time wrestler.


2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up, Selection, Raw
The following wrestlers and other personnel changed brands on the April 16 episode of Raw.


2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up, Selection, SmackDown
The following wrestlers and other personnel changed brands on the April 17 episode of SmackDown.


2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up, Aftermath
On Raw, after being drafted with the United States Championship, Jinder Mahal immediately lost the title to Jeff Hardy and failed to win it back at the Greatest Royal Rumble. He then had a short feud with Roman Reigns as well as a storyline with Kevin Owens and Braun Strowman. The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, and Sarah Logan) made their debut by attacking Bayley and Sasha Banks.


2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up, Aftermath
Over the following year, they feuded with the likes of The Bella Twins (Brie Bella and Nikki Bella) and Ronda Rousey, with each member unsuccessfully facing Rousey for the Raw Women's Championship, and Morgan and Logan also challenged for the inaugural WWE Women's Tag Team Championship. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn lost their initial match on Raw and had a short feud with Braun Strowman and the returning Bobby Lashley. Later in the year, both suffered injuries, requiring them to take time off, subsequently disbanding their team.


2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up, Aftermath
Both returned in early 2019, but with Owens on SmackDown while Zayn remained on Raw. Shortly after the Superstar Shake-up, Zack Ryder injured his knee, taking him out of action for several weeks. After his return, he reignited his feud with Mojo Rawley. After moving to Raw, Natalya became a fan favorite and had a storyline with Ronda Rousey and a short feud with Ruby Riott. Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre formed a tag team and feuded with Seth Rollins.


2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up, Aftermath
Ziggler went on to win the Intercontinental Championship, and the two also won the Raw Tag Team Championship before McIntyre turned on Ziggler. In mid-2018, Baron Corbin was made the Constable of Raw by the brand's commissioner Stephanie McMahon and eventually became the Acting Raw General Manager after Kurt Angle was forced to go on vacation by Stephanie. He also feuded with Braun Strowman in the later half of the year. Although he was moved to Raw, Mike Kanellis primarily appeared on Main Event and was eventually moved to the 205 Live brand along with his wife Maria Kanellis. Bobby Roode and Chad Gable eventually formed a tag team and later won the Raw Tag Team Championship.


2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up, Aftermath
After moving to SmackDown, bringing the United States Championship back to the brand, Jeff Hardy feuded with Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura, dropping the title to the latter. Before moving to SmackDown, The Miz lost the Intercontinental Championship to Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 34. He had two rematches to regain the title, at Greatest Royal Rumble and Backlash, but failed in both attempts, and later in the year, reignited his feud with Daniel Bryan.


2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up, Aftermath
After former Absolution leader and new SmackDown General Manager Paige made it clear that she would not show them special treatment, Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville dropped the name Absolution but remained a tag team. Although tensions rose between the two, they challenged for the inaugural WWE Women's Tag Team Championship. Despite moving to SmackDown, Samoa Joe had an opportunity at the Intercontinental Championship at the Greatest Royal Rumble, but lost. He also faced Raw's Roman Reigns at Backlash, but also lost that match.


2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up, Aftermath
He then entered into a feud with AJ Styles over the WWE Championship, and although unsuccessful at gaining that title, he won the United States Championship before the year's end. Big Cass immediately began a feud with Daniel Bryan that he ultimately lost before being released from his WWE contract in June. Asuka began a feud with Carmella over the SmackDown Women's Championship that she ultimately lost, however, she eventually won the title before the year's end. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson earned an opportunity for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship at Money in the Bank, but failed.


2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up, Aftermath
Before moving to SmackDown, Cesaro and Sheamus were granted an opportunity at the Raw Tag Team Championship at the Greatest Royal Rumble, but failed to win the titles. They then officially changed their team name to The Bar, previously a nickname, and began a pursuit for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, which they eventually won. R-Truth eventually formed a partnership with Carmella and the two would go on to win Mixed Match Challenge Season 2. After moving to SmackDown, Andrade began a feud with Sin Cara. The Hardy Boyz eventually reunited; in mid-2018, Matt Hardy went on hiatus, but when he returned in February 2019, he returned on the SmackDown brand and reunited with Jeff. Nikki Cross was eventually called up in December 2018, but did not rejoin Sanity and appeared on both Raw and SmackDown.


2018 Wagga Wagga state by-election
A by-election was held in the New South Wales state electoral district of Wagga Wagga on 8 September 2018. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Daryl Maguire, a Liberal-turned-independent. Maguire resigned from Parliament the previous month after admitting to a corruption inquiry that he sought payment over a property deal.


2018 Wagga Wagga state by-election
The day after the vote ABC election expert Antony Green predicted the by-election would be won by independent candidate Joe McGirr. McGirr was later confirmed as the victorious candidate by the New South Wales Electoral Commission, winning 59.6% of the two-candidate preferred vote over Liberal candidate Julia Ham. The Liberal primary vote plunged more than 28%–a loss of almost half of their primary vote from 2015–resulting in the seat falling out of Liberal hands for the first time since 1957. McGirr only trailed the Liberals by 28 votes on the first count, and was elected on Labor preferences.


2018 Wagga Wagga state by-election
The by-election came two weeks after two federal Liberal leadership spills on 21 and 24 August, which resulted in the removal of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. The massive primary vote swing against the Liberals was put down to fallout from the spills. The swing against the Liberals was actually large enough to make this long-standing conservative bastion a notional Labor seat in a "traditional" two-party-preferred contest between the Liberals and Labor for the first time in over 60 years.


2018 Wagga Wagga state by-election, Candidates
The Nationals elected not to field a candidate, following considerable debate between the two Coalition partners. Although Wagga Wagga had been held by the Liberals without interruption since 1957, a number of Nationals believed Wagga Wagga was naturally a National seat. It is located within an area that has long been considered National heartland, and is mostly served by the safe federal National seat of Riverina.


2018 Wagner Seahawks football team
The 2018 Wagner Seahawks football team represented Wagner College in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season as a member of the Northeast Conference (NEC). They were led by fourth-year head coach Jason Houghtaling and played their home games at Wagner College Stadium. Wagner finished the season 4–7 overall and 3–3 in NEC play to place fourth.


2018 Wagner Seahawks football team, Previous season
The Seahawks finished the 2017 season 4–7, 2–4 in NEC play to finish in a tie for fifth place.


2018 Wagner Seahawks football team, Preseason, NEC coaches poll
The NEC released their preseason coaches poll on July 24, 2018, with the Seahawks predicted to finish in fifth place.


2018 Wagner Seahawks football team, Preseason, Preseason All-NEC team
The Seahawks placed two players on the preseason all-NEC team.


2018 Wakayama gubernatorial election
Wakayama Prefecture held a gubernatorial election in November 2018. Incumbent Yoshinobu Nisaka was reelected for a fourth term.


2018 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team
The 2018 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team represented Wake Forest University during the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was led by fifth-year head coach Dave Clawson, and played their home games at BB&T Field. Wake Forest competed in the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference as they have since the league's inception in 1953. They finished the season 7–6, 3–5 in ACC play to finish in a tie for fifth place in the Atlantic Division. They were invited to the Birmingham Bowl where they defeated Memphis.


2018 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team, Previous season
The Demon Deacons finished the 2017 season 8–5, 4–4 in ACC play to finish in a three-way tie for third place in the Atlantic Division. They were invited to the Belk Bowl where they defeated Texas A&M.


2018 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team, Preseason, ACC media poll
The ACC media poll was released on July 24, 2018.


2018 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team, Schedule
Wake Forest announced their schedule for the 2018 season on January 17, 2018. The Demon Deacons' schedule consist of 7 home games and 5 away games. Wake Forest host conference opponents Boston College, Clemson, Pittsburgh, and Syracuse, and travel to Duke, Florida State, Louisville, and NC State. The Demon Deacons play out of conference games against Tulane of the AAC, Towson of the Division I FCS CAA, Notre Dame who competes as an Independent, and Rice of C-USA.


2018 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's soccer team
The 2018 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's soccer team represented Wake Forest University during the 2018 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. It was the 72nd season of the university fielding a program. It was the program's fourth season with Bobby Muuss as head coach. The Demon Deacons played their home matches at Spry Stadium.


2018 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's soccer team, Background
The 2017 Wake Forest men's soccer team finished the season with a 19–2–2 overall record and a 7–0–1 ACC record. The Demon Deacons were seeded first–overall in the 2017 ACC Men's Soccer Tournament, and they went on to win the tournament. The Demon Deacons earned an automatic bid into the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament for winning the ACC Tournament. As the first–overall seed in the tournament, Wake Forest defeated Columbia and Butler, before losing to eventual champions Stanford in the Quarterfinals.


2018 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's soccer team, Background
At the end of the season, three Demon Deacons men's soccer players were selected in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft: Jon Bakero, Ema Twumasi and Luis Argudo. Bakero and Twumasi were both taken in the first round.


2018 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's soccer team, Squad, Roster
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2018 Wakefield Metropolitan District Council election
The 2018 Wakefield Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 3 May 2018 to elect members of Wakefield Metropolitan District Council in England. The election was held on the same day as other local elections. The Labour Party and the Conservative Party fielded a full slate of 21 candidates, as well as 12 Liberal Democrats, 6 Yorkshire Party candidates, 4 Green Party candidates, 3 UK Independence Party candidates, 1 Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition candidate and 1 Democrats and Veteran's Party candidate.


2018 Wakefield Metropolitan District Council election, Council make-up
The make up of the Council following the election was:


2018 Wakefield Metropolitan District Council election, Ward results, Ossett ward
*Nick Farmer, previously won the seat of Ossett in the local elections of 2014. He resigned from the UK Independence Party in 2017 and took up his seat as an Independent. He later joined the Conservative Party.


2018 Wales Rally GB
The 2018 Wales Rally GB (formally known as the 74. Dayinsure Wales Rally GB) was a motor racing event for rally cars that took place over four days between 4 and 7 October 2018. The event was open to entries competing in World Rally Cars and cars complying with Group R regulations. It marked the seventy-fourth running of Rally Great Britain and was the eleventh round of the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship, the highest class of competition in international rallying.


2018 Wales Rally GB
Sixty crews, including manufacturer teams and privateers, were entered to compete in the World Rally Championship, the FIA World Rally Championship-2 and FIA World Rally Championship-3 support series and the MSA British Rally Championship. The 2018 event was based in Deeside in Flintshire and consisted of twenty-three special stages throughout North and Mid-Wales. The rally covered a total competitive distance of a 318.34 km (197.81 miles) and an additional 1,083.01 km (672.95 miles) in transport stages.


2018 Wales Rally GB
The M-Sport Ford World Rally Team crew of Elfyn Evans and Daniel Barritt were the defending rally winners. Pontus Tidemand and Jonas Andersson of Škoda Motorsport were the defending winners of the World Rally Championship-2, and French privateers Raphaël Astier and Frédéric Vauclare were the reigning winners in the World Rally Championship-3 category; however, Astier and Vauclare did not defend their title as they did not enter the rally.


2018 Wales Rally GB
The rally was won by Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia. The result marked their fifth win in Wales and saw them become the most successful crew in the history of the event. Ogier and Ingrassia moved to within seven points of championship leaders Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul. Toyota's Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila finished second, with their teammates Esapekka Lappi and Janne Ferm completing the podium. M-Sport Ford World Rally Team were the manufacturers' winners, whilst Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT extended their lead in the manufacturers' championship. The Škoda Motorsport II crew of Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen won in the World Rally Championship-2 in a Škoda Fabia R5, while the local crew of Tom Williams and Phil Hall won in the World Rally Championship-3.


2018 Wales Rally GB, Background, Championship standings prior to the event
Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul entered the round as the leaders of the World Rally Championship for Drivers and the World Rally Championship for Co-Drivers respectively. They held a thirteen-point lead over Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja. Defending World Champions Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia were third, a further ten points behind. In the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT held a five-point lead over Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT.


2018 Wales Rally GB, Background, Championship standings prior to the event
In the World Rally Championship-2 standings, Jan Kopecký and Pavel Dresler led the drivers' and co-drivers' standings by thirty-two points, but did not contest the rally. Pontus Tidemand and Jonas Andersson were in second place, thirty-eight points ahead of privateers Gus Greensmith and Craig Parry. Škoda Motorsport II held a seventeen-point lead over sister team Škoda Motorsport in the teams' championship.


2018 Wales Rally GB, Background, Championship standings prior to the event
Newly crowned Junior World Rally Champion Emil Bergkvist led the World Rally Championship-3 drivers' standings. Denis Rådström was second, six points behind Bergkvist and Jean-Baptiste Franceschi third; Franceschi entered the rally, but did not nominate it as a round to score points. Johan Johansson held a one-point lead over Romain Courbon in the co-drivers' standings, while Tatu Hämäläinen was another eleven points behind. In the teams' championship, ACI Team Italia led Castrol Ford Team Turkiye by sixteen points.


2018 Wales Rally GB, Background, Entry list
The following crews were entered into the rally. The entry list consisted of sixty crews, including eleven World Rally Car entries, fourteen entries in the World Rally Championship-2, four in the World Rally Championship-3 and nineteen in the British national championship.


2018 Wales Rally GB, Background, Calendar changes
The event swapped places on the calendar with the Rally Catalunya de España. Where the 2017 rally was run as the penultimate round of the championship, the 2018 event was brought forward from the last week of October to the first week in the expectation of better weather conditions for the event. Toyota driver Jari-Matti Latvala anticipated that the change would see the rally run with stable, more-predictable temperatures than in previous years, making it easier to set the car up for the prevailing conditions.


2018 Wales Rally GB, Background, Calendar changes
Further changes to the calendar saw the revival of Rally Turkey as a replacement for Rally Poland. The Turkish event was named as the tenth round of the championship and in light of the distance crews needed to travel from Turkey to Wales, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA)—the governing body of international motorsport—gave entrants an additional week to prepare for Rally GB compared to previous years.


2018 Wales Rally GB, Background, Route
The 2018 event featured a heavily revised route from the 2017 rally. The route for the 2018 event was designed to be more challenging than the routes used in previous years. The changes were introduced in response to criticism from crews and teams over the lengthy transport route, or the route taken on public roads to travel between special stages. The final route featured an additional 14.98 km (9.31 miles) in competitive kilometres compared to the 2017 route and the transport distance was shortened. The changes to the route allowed the crews to return to the service park in Deeside at the end of the first day of competition as the omission of the return to the service park had been one of the teams' criticisms of the 2017 event.


2018 Wales Rally GB, Background, Route, Details
The rally was made up of gravel roads through forests and moors. Many of these roads received little commercial traffic through the year aside from forestry maintenance and logging projects. Unlike events such as Rally Italia Sardegna and Rally Australia where loose gravel on the road surface creates dust, the road surface in Wales is made up of heavier gravel on a hard-packed road base. This creates more grip for crews in the dry, but the roads can become muddy and rutted in wet weather, particularly when a stage is used multiple times.


2018 Wales Rally GB, Background, Route, Details
The event featured two days in northern Wales and one day in the middle of the country. The first leg was 111.20 km (69.10 miles) long and started with a spectator stage at Tir Prince Raceway on the evening of 4 October. It then moved into the forests of Conwy and Gwynedd on 5 October and was made up of two passes over Clocaenog Forest, Penmachno Forest and a new stage formed by merging the Brenig reservoir stage—which was run as the Power Stage between 2014 and 2017—with the Alwen stage using parts of the B4501 to connect them.


2018 Wales Rally GB, Background, Route, Details
Now known as Brenig, it was the longest stage of the rally at 29.19 km (18.14 miles). Penmachno Forest was run in its full length by using public roads. The Cholmondeley Castle spectator stage in England was removed and replaced by a new spectator stage called Slate Mountain. The rally moved to Powys and Ceredigion on 6 October for the longest day of the rally, totalling 146.45 km (91.00 miles) competitive kilometres. It consisted of two passes over the Myherin, Hafren, Dyfi and Gartheiniog stages and a single running of Dyfnant.


2018 Wales Rally GB, Background, Route, Details
The Hafren stage was extended to include the Sweet Lamb spectator arena. The 2018 event marked the first time since 1997 that these five stages were run on the same day. The rally returned to northern Wales on 7 October and the forests of Conwy and Snowdonia. The third leg was the shortest of the rally at 60.20 km (37.41 miles) long and featured Elsi, a brand new stage, and two passes of Gwydir.


2018 Wales Rally GB, Background, Route, Details
The Gwydir stage was doubled in length from previous years before the rally concludes with two passes over a spectator stage around the Great Orme headland and the streets of Llandudno. A shortened version of the Great Orme stage had previously been used in 2011 when it was run in the opposite direction.


2018 Wales Rally GB, Background, Route, Details
Organisers of the event had a dispute with the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) over the planned route. The original proposal featured the Great Orme stage—which had previously featured in the route of the 2013 event—as the event's Power Stage. However, the FIA rejected the route as the proposed stage was not representative of the rally; the route primarily consisted of gravel stages, but the proposed stage was tarmac. The dispute was resolved when the organisers agreed to run the first pass over Gwydir as the Power Stage, allowing the event to finish in Llandudno as originally planned.


2018 Wales Rally GB, Background, Route, Details
The inclusion of public roads in the route was made possible with the passage of the Deregulation Act 2015 by the British government, which amended parts of the Road Traffic Act 1988 to make it possible for events to close public roads to be used for motor racing events in the United Kingdom. In February 2018, the National Assembly for Wales passed the Road Traffic Act 1988 (Motor Racing) (Wales) Regulations 2018, a piece of secondary legislation that enabled motor racing events to take place on public roads in Wales.


2018 Wales Rally GB, Background, Route, Reception
The new route was received positively by drivers—particularly former Citroën driver Kris Meeke—who appreciated the inclusion of challenging stages. Thierry Neuville and Craig Breen also applauded the route as the best route used by the rally since it moved from Cardiff to Deeside. Defending rally winner Elfyn Evans had a more muted response, expressing disappointment that organisers had not taken full advantage of road closures to create a more demanding route, such as merging the Dyfi and Gartheiniog stages.


2018 Wales Rally GB, Background, Route, Reception
Rally organisers revealed that they had considered many of the suggestions Evans had raised, but chose a more conservative approach to road closures as the legislation that allowed them to close roads had only been passed in February 2018 and they wanted to ensure that the protocol had been followed properly.


2018 Wales Rally GB, Report, Leg 1
Esapekka Lappi and Janne Ferm completed the opening super special stage three tenths of a second ahead of fellow Toyota crew Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila and championship leaders Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul, who tied for second. As the event moved into the forest stages, Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja—who entered the rally having taken three consecutive victories—dominanted the early running. He won five of the eight stages and established a comfortable lead to end the day twenty-eight seconds ahead of Neuville and Gilsoul.


2018 Wales Rally GB, Report, Leg 1
Tänak had been closely matched by defending rally winners Elfyn Evans and Daniel Barritt until their Fiesta WRC developed a misfire and was forced to retire from the leg. Latvala and Anttila dropped down to third overall after losing their rhythm in the afternoon loop. Lappi and Ferm recovered from an early spin to finish fourth, while Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia completed the leg in fifth. Ogier and Ingrassia had fallen to eighth during the first pass over the stages when they suffered a series of spins and the loss of first and second gear.


2018 Wales Rally GB, Report, Leg 1
Their M-Sport Ford teammates Teemu Suninen and Mikko Markkula completed the team's woes when they slid off the road and into a ditch; Suninen and Markkula were unable to re-enter the rally. Craig Breen and Scott Martin were the lead Citroën crew in sixth after enjoying a trouble-free day, ahead of Hyundai crews led Hayden Paddon and Sebastian Marshall in seventh and Andreas Mikkelsen and Anders Jæger-Synnevaag in eighth. Both Paddon and Mikkelsen complained of unpredictable handling in their cars, particularly during the afternoon loop of stages when rain affected the profile of the roads.


2018 Wales Rally GB, Report, Leg 1
Neuville, by comparison, reported that his car's handling improved in the afternoon, benefiting from a new specification of tyre provided by Michelin that offered improved grip whilst being more durable than previous tyres. Citroën's Mads Østberg and Torstein Eriksen were the last of the drivers in a World Rally Car-specification entry, finishing the leg in ninth place.


2018 Wales Rally GB, Report, Leg 2
Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja continued their form through the opening stages of the second leg until they were forced to retire. Tänak damaged his radiator after a heavy landing off a jump during the second pass through Sweet Lamb Hafren. Tänak and Järveoja had experienced similar retirements in the Rallies of Portugal and Sardinia. Ogier and Ingrassia experienced a resurgence, climbing from fifth place to take the lead; however, Ogier chose the more-durable medium compound tyres as the dry gravel would damage the faster soft compound, and was unable to build a lead of his own.


2018 Wales Rally GB, Report, Leg 2
He finished the leg with a slender four-second advantage over the surviving Toyotas of Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila in second place and Esapekka Lappi and Janne Ferm in third. Craig Breen and Scott Martin ended the leg in fourth, some fifteen seconds off the lead. The reversal of the running order for the second leg meant that Mads Østberg and Torstein Eriksen ran with favourable road conditions, which allowed them to find some pace in the morning loop and climb the leaderboard.


2018 Wales Rally GB, Report, Leg 2
Andreas Mikkelsen and Anders Jæger-Synnevaag similarly benefited from their road position, winning three of the day's stages and finishing the leg two and a half seconds behind Østberg and Eriksen. Hayden Paddon and Sebastian Marshall completed the day in seventh overall ahead of Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul; Neuville and Gilsoul had been running second at the time, but lost fifty-one seconds when they ran off the road in the early morning stages and he conceded a further fifteen seconds to Ogier and Ingrassia when they was unable to match the leaders' pace.


2018 Wales Rally GB, Report, Leg 3
The final leg of the rally saw Ogier and Ingrassia trade places with Latvala and Anttila several times. Ogier and Ingrassia initially held the advantage, but a fast time by Latvala and Anttila through the Gwydir Power Stage—that saw them take the five bonus points—was enough to seize the lead. Latvala and Anttila held the lead through the first pass over Great Orme Llandudno, only for Ogier and Ingrassia to reclaim it on the return to Gwydir.


2018 Wales Rally GB, Report, Leg 3
The final stage was delayed following an incident that required the attention of emergency services and not all of the competitors were able to start the stage. Latvala and Anttila was unable to set a competitive time, meaning Ogier and Ingrassia only needed to finish to claim victory. They ultimately set a time fast enough to win the stage and the rally, taking twenty-five World Championship points for the win and an additional three points for third place on the Power Stage. Esapekka Lappi and Janne Ferm completed the podium and scored an extra Power Stage point.


2018 Wales Rally GB, Report, Leg 3
Craig Breen and Scott Martin were fourth, ahead of Neuville and Gilsoul. Neuville and Gilsoul led the three Hyundais, with Mikkelsen and Jæger-Synnevaag in sixth and Paddon and Marshall seventh. Mads Østberg and Torstein Eriksen were eighth, with the final points-scoring places going to World Rally Championship-2 entrants Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen and their Škoda Motorsport teammates Pontus Tidemand and Jonas Andersson. Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja re-entered under Rally2 regulations and finished nineteenth overall, scoring four points on the Power Stage in the process. Elfyn Evans and Daniel Barritt also re-entered and finished twentieth in the final classification.


2018 Wales Rally GB, Report, Support categories
In the World Rally Championship-2 standings, eighteen year-old Kalle Rovanperä and co-driver Jonne Halttunen finished the first leg as the category leader and tenth in the overall standings. Rovanperä and Halttunen won every stage but one to establish a lead of fifty-five seconds over teammates Pontus Tidemand and Jonas Andersson, while British privateers Gus Greensmith and Alessandro Gelsomino finished the leg in third. Rovanperä and Halttunen maintained their lead over Tidemand and Andersson throughout the second leg and the two crews climbed to ninth and tenth in the overall classification following the retirement of Tänak and Järveoja.


2018 Wales Rally GB, Report, Support categories
Rovanperä and Halttunen went on to win the category by ninety-four seconds, aided by an off-road excursion by Tidemand and Andersson in the Power Stage. Tidemand and Andersson damaged their rear suspension, but were able to continue after repairing the damage during a transport stage. The result was Rovanperä and Haltunnen's second win in the category. Tidemand and Andersson recovered to finish second, with Greensmith and Gelsomino finishing third.


2018 Wales Rally GB, Report, Support categories
Tom Williams and Phil Hall led the first leg in the World Rally Championship-3 category after trading stage wins with Taisko Lario and Tatu Hämäläinen throughout the day. Williams and Hall's lead was consolidated during the second leg when Lario and Hämäläinen were late checking into a stage and had thirty seconds added to his time as a penalty. Williams and Hall went on to win the event, marking their first victory in the category. Italian privateers Enrico Brazzoli and Luca Beltrame caught and passed Lario and Hämäläinen during the second leg and held the position until the end of the rally. Lario and Hämäläinen ultimately finished third overall.


2018 Wales Rally GB, Report, Support categories
The first two legs of the rally also served as the final two rounds of the MSA British Rally Championship. M-Sport driver Matt Edwards and co-driver Darren Garrod secured the 2018 championship title with fourth place on the first leg of the rally. Edwards and Garrod won the second leg and were the highest-place national entrant at the end of the rally.


2018 Wales Rally GB, Classification, Power stage
The Power stage was a 14.70 km stage run on the final day of the rally. Additional World Drivers' and Co-drivers' Championship points were awarded to the five fastest crews. As the Power Stage was not the final stage of the rally, crews had to complete the event to be eligible to receive the points.


2018 Wales Rally GB, Classification, Penalties
The following crews were given time penalties during the rally.


2018 Wales Rally GB, Classification, Retirements
The following crews retired from the event. Under Rally2 regulations, they were eligible to re-enter the event starting from the next leg. Crews that re-entered were given an additional time penalty.


2018 Wales rugby union tour to Argentina and the United States
In June 2018, Wales played a two-test series against Argentina as part of the 2018 June rugby union tests. It was Wales's first test series against Argentina since their 2006 tour. Ahead of the test series, Wales played South Africa in a one-off test match in Washington, D.C..


2018 Wales rugby union tour to Argentina and the United States, Squads
Note: Ages, caps and clubs are as per 9 June, the first test match of the tour.


2018 Wales rugby union tour to Argentina and the United States, Squads, Wales
On 8 May, head coach Warren Gatland named a 31-man squad for the 2018 Summer Internationals.


2018 Wales rugby union tour to Argentina and the United States, Squads, Wales
On 16 May, Luke Charteris, Tomas Francis and Josh Adams were forced to pull out of the squad due to selection protocols, while Josh Navidi withdrew due to injury. Ashton Hewitt, Rhodri Jones and Aaron Wainwright were called up in their places.


2018 Wales rugby union tour to Argentina and the United States, Squads, Wales
On 27 May, Aaron Shingler and Ashton Hewitt withdrew from the squad due to injury. Josh Turnbull was called up as a replacement.


2018 Wales rugby union tour to Argentina and the United States, Squads, Wales
On 3 June, Steff Evans withdrew from the squad due to injury. Josh Adams and Tomas Francis were recalled to the squad in his place.


2018 Wales rugby union tour to Argentina and the United States, Squads, Argentina
Argentina 30-man squad for their 2018 June rugby union tests against Wales and Scotland.


2018 Wales rugby union tour to Argentina and the United States, Squads, Argentina
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2018 Wales rugby union tour to Argentina and the United States, Matches, Warm-up match
Touch judges:Alexandre Ruiz (France)Frank Murphy (Ireland)Television match official:David Grashoff (England)


2018 Wales rugby union tour to Argentina and the United States, Matches, First test
Touch judges:Jaco Peyper (South Africa)Mathieu Raynal (France)Television match official:Marius Jonker (South Africa)


2018 Wales rugby union tour to Argentina and the United States, Matches, Second test
Touch judges:Mathieu Raynal (France)Andrew Brace (Ireland)Television match official:Marius Jonker (South Africa)


2018 Wallis and Futuna's 1st constituency by-election
A by-election was held in Wallis and Futuna's 1st constituency on 15 April 2018. The by-election was called after the Constitutional Council invalidated the election of Napole Polutele, miscellaneous left candidate in the June 2017 legislative elections and member of the UDI, Agir and Independents group in the National Assembly, on 2 February 2018. Sylvain Brial defeated outgoing deputy Polutele in the first round of the by-election on 15 April.


2018 Wallis and Futuna's 1st constituency by-election, Background
In the 2017 legislative elections, miscellaneous left candidate Napole Polutele was elected in the first round with 50.24% of the vote against another miscellaneous left candidate, Sylvain Brial, who obtained 46.19% of votes, and Hervé Michel of The Republicans (LR), who secured 3.57% of the vote.


2018 Wallis and Futuna's 1st constituency by-election, Background
Polutele, one of four deputies elected in the first round of the legislative elections, sponsored the candidacy of Emmanuel Macron in the presidential election and announced that he would sit with the presidential majority in the National Assembly; he ultimately joined the Constructives group as a related member, having sat as a member of the Socialist group in the previous legislature.


2018 Wallis and Futuna's 1st constituency by-election, Background
After the election, Sylvain Brial decided to appeal the result to the Constitutional Council, claiming to have discovered irregularities in electoral lists and proxy votes. On 2 February 2018, the constitutional council ruled to void the election of Polutele. Under article L. 64 of the electoral code, should a voter be unable to sign the electoral roll at a polling station, the signature affixed, as required the third paragraph of article L. 62-1, should read "l'électeur ne peut signer lui-même" ("the voter cannot sign themselves") and be provided by a voter of their choice.


2018 Wallis and Futuna's 1st constituency by-election, Background
However, 36 voters merely inscribed a "single cross" that could not be considered a signature, in addition to one voter unable to sign themselves whose vote was accompanied by the signature of another voter. Furthermore, 21 proxy votes were discarded under article R. 75 of the electoral code, either because no signature was given, or because a cross was provided rather than a signature. Because 57 votes were deducted and Polutele avoided a second round by only 16 votes, the constitutional council invalidated the election, triggering a by-election within three months.


2018 Wallis and Futuna's 1st constituency by-election, Background
On 2 March 2018, the first round of the by-election was scheduled for 15 April 2018, with a second round on 22 April if no candidate secured a majority of votes in the first round.


2018 Wallis and Futuna's 1st constituency by-election, Background
After his defeat, Polutele filed an appeal with the constitutional council on 26 April.


2018 Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council election
The 2018 Walsall Council election took place on 3 May 2018, to elect members of Walsall Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections.


2018 Walsh Cup
The 2018 Walsh Cup was an inter-county hurling competition based mainly in the Irish province of Leinster. It took place in December 2017 and January 2018.