The 2013 Garanti Koza WTA Tournament of Champions was a singles-only tennis tournament that was played on indoor hard courts. The tournament was sponsored by Turkish construction firm Garanti Koza (the first year of a two-year deal).[1] It was the fifth edition of the tournament and was part of the 2013 WTA Tour. The 2013 edition was the second to be held in Sofia at the Arena Armeec. The tournament was played between October 29 and November 3.[1]Nadia Petrova was the defending champion, but she did not qualify this year, nor did she receive a wildcard into the event.
The 2013 Garanti Koza WTA Tournament of Champions was the fifth edition of the event and the second to take place in Sofia. The tournament is run by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and is part of the 2013 WTA Tour. It is the season ending championships for players who have won one of the WTA International tournaments but have not qualified for the WTA Championships. The Tournament consisted of a singles draw of eight players (including two Wild Cards, if applicable) in a round robin format determined by the WTA.
Format
The singles event featured eight players in a round robin event, split into two groups of four. Over the first four days of competition, each player met the other three players in their group, with the top two in each group advancing to the semifinals. The first-placed player in one group met the second-placed player in the other group, and vice versa. The winners of each semifinal met in the championship match.
Round robin tie-breaking methods
The final standings of each group shall be determined by the first of the following methods that apply:
Greatest number of wins
Greatest number of matches played; or
Head-to-head results if only two players are tied, or if three players are tied then:
a If three players each have the same number of wins, a player having played less than all three matches is automatically eliminated and the player advancing to the single elimination competition is the winner of the match-up of the two remaining tied players; or
b Highest percentage of sets won; or
c Highest percentage of games won
Prize money and points
The total prize money for the 2013 Garanti Koza WTA Tournament of Champions was 750,000 United States dollars.
Stage
Singles
Points 1
Champion
RR2 + 190,000
RR2 + 195
Runner-up
RR2 + 65,000
RR2 + 75
Semifinalist
RR2 + 10,000
RR2
Round Robin (3 wins)
80,000
180
Round Robin (2 wins)
65,000
145
Round Robin (1 win)
50,000
110
Round Robin (0 wins)
35,000
75
Alternate
7,5003
0
1 for every match played in the round robin a player gets 25 points automatically, and for each round robin win they get 35 additional points
2 RR means Prize money or Points won in the Round Robin Round.
3 Alternates receive $7,500 in prize money, even if they do not participate.
Qualifying
The six highest-ranked players who have captured at least one International tournament during the year and who are not participating in singles at the year-end WTA Championships in Istanbul or the finals of the Fed Cup will automatically qualify for the event, plus two wildcards.
Wozniacki qualified with victory in the final international series event of the season in Luxembourg. The Dane decided, although she would be the number one seed, not to compete and instead only focus her attentions on being an alternate at the WTA Championships.[1][4][5]
Roberta Vinci
Vinci qualified by winning two international series tournaments, in Katowice and Palermo, respectively, but decided to compete in the Fed Cup final instead.
Simona Halep cracked into the top 15 for the first time.
Simona Halep
Halep is having a breakthrough year, entering the top 15 and winning her first title after previously losing three finals between 2010 and 2012. The Romanian won an impressive number of five titles in the year. The first was on the Nürnberger Versicherungscup defeating German Andrea Petkovic 6–3, 6–3, which gave her entry to the event.[6] The following week she claimed the title on the grass courts of the Topshelf Open defeating Kirsten Flipkens 6–4, 6–2.[7] Halep claimed her third title at the Budapest Grand Prix defeating Austrian Yvonne Meusburger in three sets 6–3, 6–7(7–9), 6–1.[8] She won her biggest title so far at the New Haven Open at Yale her first Premier title defeating Petra Kvitová 6–2, 6–2.[9] Halep also reached the semifinals Internazionali BNL d'Italia as a qualifier, but lost to world no. 1 Serena Williams.[10] She also lost to Serena Williams at the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Open, again in straight sets.[11] On 20 October 2013, just before the Garanti Koza in Sofia, she won her fifth title of the year and the second Premier, beating Samantha Stosur 7–6 6–2 at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.[12] Simona Halep is making her debut at the event.
Kirilenko's first half of 2013 saw her with good results and broke through the top 10, while her second saw her struggle with a knee injury. Kirilenko last year's wildcard received entry into the event after winning the PTT Pattaya Open defeating Sabine Lisicki 5–7, 6–1, 7–6(7–1).[18] Kirilenko was able to reach the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open losing to compatriot Maria Sharapova 4–6, 3–6.[19] At the slams, Kirilenko reached her first French Open quarterfinal and her third slam quarterfinals losing to Victoria Azarenka 6–7(7–9), 2–6.[20] She also reached the fourth round of the Australian Open losing to Serena Williams 2–6, 0–6, third round of the US Open losing to Simona Halep 1–6, 0–6, and was upset in the first round of Wimbledon losing to Laura Robson 3–6, 4–6.[21][22] She is making her second appearance at the event.
Stosur had a dip in 2013, falling out of the top 10 for the first time since 2010 and finishing outside the top 10 for the first time since 2009. At the slams, Stosur failed to get past the fourth round of a slam in a year since 2008. She lost in the third rounds of French Open, to Jelena Janković 6–3, 3–6, 4–6, and Wimbledon, to eventual runner-up Sabine Lisicki 6–4, 2–6, 1–6.[23][24] She also lost in the second round to Zheng Jie 4–6, 6–1, 5–7 at the Australian Open and first round of US Open to American qualifier Victoria Duval 7–5, 4–6, 4–6.[25][26] After poor results in the beginning of the year, Stosur showed good form by reaching back-to-back quarterfinals in Qatar and Dubai.[27] However, after withdrawing from her quarterfinal match against Angelique Kerber at the BNP Paribas due to a calf-injury, Stosur showed poor form throughout the year until shocking Victoria Azarenka in the final of the Southern California Open.[28] She won her second title of the year at HP Open defeating Eugenie Bouchard 3–6, 7–5, 6–2 to receive entry into the Tournament of Champions.[29][30] She is making her 2nd appearance in the event.
Vesnina made her breakthrough year in 2013. She won her first title after six former runners-up at the Moorilla Hobart International, defeating German Mona Barthel in the final 6–3, 6–4. This also gave Vesnina entry into the tournament of champions.[31] She then won her second title at the Aegon International a Premier event defeating Jamie Hampton 6–2, 6–1.[32] At the slam, the Russian reached the fourth round of the Australian Open and the first round of the French Open losing to Victoria Azarenka in both occasions 1–6, 1–6, and 1–6, 4–6, respectively.[33] The Russian then fell in the second rounds of Wimbledon and US Open to Sabine Lisicki 3–6, 1–6 and Karin Knapp 1–6, 4–6, respectively.[34] She also won French Open with Ekaterina Makarova.[35] She opted to play at the Tournament of Champions rather than the Fed Cup final.[36] She is making her debut to the event.
Pavlyuchenkova is the third Russian to play at the event. Pavlyuchenkova won two international events in clay to gain entry into the event, the first coming at the Monterrey Open defeating Angelique Kerber 4–6, 6–2, 6–4 and the second at the Portugal Open defeating Carla Suárez Navarro 7–5, 6–2.[37][38] The Russian also reached two other finals but lost, the first being at the Premier event of the Brisbane International losing to Serena Williams 2–6, 1–6 and the second at the KDB Korea Open losing to Agnieszka Radwańska, 7–6(8–6), 3–6, 4–6.[39][40] The Russian didn't fare well at the slams, her best performance reaching the third round of the US Open losing to Radwańska 4–6, 6–7(7–9). She then fell in the second round of the French Open to Petra Cetkovská 5–7, 6–2, 4–6, and the first rounds of the Australian Open and Wimbledon to Lesia Tsurenko 5–7, 6–3, 5–7 and Tsvetana Pironkova 0–6, 1–6.[41][42][43]
Cornet had a resurgence this season - re-entering the top 30, and winning her third WTA career title. Cornet qualified for Sofia by winning her maiden tournament of the year at the Internationaux de Strasbourg, defeating Czech Lucie Hradecká 7–6(7–4), 6–0.[44] At the slams, the Frenchwoman lost in the second round of the Australian Open to Venus Williams 3–6, 3–6.[45] She then reached the third round of Wimbledon losing to Flavia Pennetta 6–0, 6–7(7–9), 2–6. She also fell to Victoria Azarenka in the third rounds of the French Open 6–4, 3–6, 1–6, and US Open 7–6(2–7), 3–6, 2–6.[46][47] She is making her debut to the event.
Tsvetana Pironkova
Pironkova is one of the wild card recipients, being a native of Bulgaria. She reached two quarterfinals in the year at the Topshelf Open and at 2013 Moorilla Hobart International. However, she was able to reach the fourth round of Wimbledon before losing to world no. 4 Agnieszka Radwańska 6–4, 3–6, 3–6.[48] In the other slams, Pironkova didn't fare well falling in the first rounds of the Australian Open to Romina Oprandi 6–4, 5–7, 2–6, French Open to Eugenie Bouchard 1–6, 6–7(7–9), and US Open to Alison Riske 3–6, 3–6.[49][50]
In Serdika Group, and their respective match–ups against their group, Halep was 4–1, Kirilenko was 1–6, Pavlyuchenkova was 5–4, and Cornet was 4–3. In their individual match–ups, Halep is unbeaten against the Russians 1–0 against Kirilenko and 3–0 against Pavlyuchenkova, with Halep beating Kirilenko in their only match at the 3rd round of the 2013 US Open 6–1, 6–0, and beating Pavlyuchenkova in the semifinals of the 2013 Kremlin Cup 6–2, 6–1. However, against Cornet she lost their only match at the 2011 Monterrey Open 5–7, 1–6. Kirilenko has a negative record in her group, including being 1–2 against Pavlyuchenkova with Pavlyuchenkova winning their last match at the 2013 Kremlin Cup 6–3, 6–3 and 0–3 against Cornet, the last being at the 2013 Rogers Cup 5–7, 5–7. In the final match up Pavlyuchenkova has a perfect 3–0 record against Cornet, however their last match was at the 2011 Fed Cup with a 3 set win 3–6, 6–3, 6–2.[52]
In Sredets Groups, and their head–to–heads in their group, Ivanovic was 5–5, Stosur was 7–4, Vesnina was 3–3, and Pironkova was 1–2. Ivanovic has a mixed head–to–head against her group, she trails Stosur 2–4, with Stosur winning their last three meetings the last being a 7–5, 6–4 win at the 2013 Kremlin Cup. She leads Vesnina 2–1, however Vesnina won their last meeting at the 2013 Aegon International 2–6, 6–4, 6–3. She also led Pironkova 2–1, including winning their last encounter 6–0, 6–4 at the 2012 US Open. Stosur also has mixed results in her other head–to–heads, she trails Vesnina 1–2, with Vesnina winning their last match at the 2013 Family Circle Cup. On the other hand, she is 2–0 against Pironkova winning their last match at 2011 China Open 6–4, 6–0. On the final head–to–head between Vesnina and Pironkova, this will be their first meeting.[52]
Maria Yuryevna Kirilenko is a Russian former professional tennis player. A junior Grand Slam champion at the 2002 US Open at the age of 15, she went on to become a top-ten player in both singles and doubles. Kirilenko won six WTA Tour singles titles and 12 doubles titles. She was a three-time major singles quarterfinalist, a semifinalist at the 2012 London Olympics, and reached a career-high ranking of world No. 10, on 10 June 2013. In women's doubles, she became ranked as high as No. 5 in the world on 24 October 2011, and reached two major finals, at the 2011 Australian Open with Azarenka and the 2012 French Open with compatriot Nadia Petrova. Along with Petrova, Kirilenko won the 2012 WTA Tour Championships in doubles and was a bronze medalist at the 2012 London Olympics.
Alizé Cornet is a French former professional tennis player. She has won six singles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as three singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 16 February 2009, she reached her highest WTA singles ranking of world No. 11. Cornet has also made the second week at each of the four Grand Slam events, having reached the quarterfinals at the 2022 Australian Open, and the fourth round at the 2014 Wimbledon Championships, the 2015 and 2017 French Opens, and the 2020 US Open. She holds the record for the most consecutive Grand Slam appearances with 69 and also in third place for overall appearances with 72.
Urszula Radwańska is a Polish professional tennis player.
Varvara Petrivna Lepchenko is an Uzbekistani-born American tennis player. She is of Ukrainian descent, and she formerly played for Uzbekistan. In her career, Lepchenko has won one singles title on the WTA Challenger Tour, with 13 singles titles and one doubles title on the ITF Women's Circuit. She won all her 14 ITF titles in the United States. Lepchenko has a career-high WTA singles ranking of 19, achieved October 2012.
Karin Knapp is a retired Italian tennis player.
Anastasia Sergeyevna "Nastia" Pavlyuchenkova is a Russian professional tennis player. A junior prodigy, Pavlyuchenkova won three Grand Slam titles and became the junior world No. 1, in January 2006, at the age of 14. She continued her success after turning professional, reaching a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 on 8 November 2021.
Dominika Cibulková is a Slovak former professional tennis player. She is the 2016 WTA Finals champion, becoming the fourth player to win the tournament on her debut. She won eight WTA Tour singles titles and two on the ITF Circuit.
Angelique Kerber is a German former professional tennis player. She was ranked world No. 1 in singles for a total of 34 weeks, and won three major titles at the 2016 Australian Open, the 2016 US Open, and the 2018 Wimbledon Championships. She is also an Olympic silver medalist and was the year-end world number one in 2016.
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Simona Halep 
