#tbt: The Elite 8 that never was, plus 10 more ‘iconic’ WTA Finals photoshoots

All eyes are on Fort Worth, as tennis fans search through the most Instagrammable spots in the city to figure out the backdrop for one of the tournament's favorite traditions.

ByStephanie Livaudais

Published Oct 27, 2022

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WATCH: With the WTA Finals field set, Tennis Channel Live discusses the ATP's Race To Turin heating up.

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With the WTA Finals field set and the tournament kicking off in less than a week, the Top 8 women’s players of the year are gearing up to go for one last big title.

As fans brush up on their fave’s stats in preparation, all eyes have turned to Fort Worth, TX—as tennis fans feverishly search through the most Instagrammable spots in the host city to figure out the backdrop for one of the event’s favorite traditions: the WTA Finals Iconic Photo.

Gathering the ‘Elite 8’ singles and doubles players in front of a scenic location before the event begins, the Iconic Photo serves as more than just a WTA Finals line-up shot: host cities love to show off beautiful spots in hopes of boosting tourism, while players take the opportunity to show off their personal style.

But for fans, the group photo always serves as a fascinating snapshot or a digital time capsule of a unique moment during the long WTA seasons.

Like in 2016, when the WTA Finals qualifying race came down to the wire between Svetlana Kuznetsova and Johanna Konta—resulting in this incomplete singles photo in Singapore…

While Kuznetsova and Konta battled it out on the Race table, the rest of the WTA Finals field snapped this photo in front of Singapore’s ‘iconic’ Merlion.

In the end, Kuznetsova would go on to qualify on the last day of the season by winning the Moscow title—leaving Konta, who was already in Singapore, without a spot in the tournament. Ouch.

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There’s a version of the 2016 Iconic Photo that includes Konta in case she qualified, but it never saw the light of day.

And that’s not the first time the WTA Finals’ signature group shot was derailed due to a late arrival.

In fact, it happened in back-to-back years in 2010 and 2011—and as a result of the same player: Victoria Azarenka.

As the WTA Tour unveiled its new logo in Doha, Azarenka’s efforts in Moscow kept her out of the group shot at the Year-End Championships.

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The same thing happened in 2011, when eventual finalist Azarenka arrived late to the event in Istanbul as a result of winning the Luxembourg title.

Fortunately for all parties involved, all eight of the singles players have been locked in heading into Fort Worth: Iga Swiatek, Ons Jabeur, Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff, Maria Sakkari, Caroline Garcia, Aryna Sabalenka and Daria Kasatkina.

While we await news of this year’s location—and of course, the outfits—scroll through some of the most ‘iconic’ WTA Finals photos in recent years…

Group photos were a much more lowkey affair in Madrid during the 2006 WTA Tour Championships.

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That is, until Hugo Boss stepped in during 2007 for this group shot.

The 2014 WTA Finals photo is ‘iconic’ for many reasons. For one, it’s a memory of the first year the event was held in Singapore.

But mostly it’s because of this intriguing behind-the-scenes snap that popped up on social media afterward.

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Everyone got the memo during the 2018 group photo, wearing shades of red and black to celebrate the event’s final edition in Singapore.

With military tanks reportedly camped out at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center, the tour commemorated its first and, so far, only WTA Finals in China in 2019.

After a year off the calendar, the WTA Finals returned with a bang in Guadalajara, where this ‘iconic’ night shot kicked off the first-ever edition of the event in Latin America.

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