• WTA

Singapore to host WTA Championships

World No. 1 Serena Williams is excited to take women's tennis to Singapore © PA Photos

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Singapore will host the end-of-season WTA Championships for five years from 2014, the WTA have announced.

After fending off competition from the Chinese city of Tianjin and Moneterrey of Mexico, Singapore was awarded the competition which has attracted firm praise from defending champion and world No. 1 Serena Williams.

"I've been fortunate to qualify for WTA Championships in five different cities during my career," Williams said. "I know that our new partners in Singapore and the fans of Singapore will help take our Championships to new heights."

The 2014 Championships will showcase a record prize tally of £4.2 million, a figure that WTA chairwoman and CEO Stacey Allaster was quick to issue praise for.

"It gives me great pleasure to announce that the sensational city of Singapore has won the right to host the WTA Championships, the WTA's crown jewel season finale, for the next five years from 2014 to 2018," Allaster said.

"This is the largest and most significant WTA Championships partnership in our history. It's a record-breaker."

Maria Sharapova believes that taking the lucrative Championships to Asia will help expand tennis to new markets.

"It's incredibly exciting to have our WTA Championships heading to Singapore, which is a fantastic sporting city," Sharapova said. "Women's tennis is truly international, and bringing our very best event to fantastic new markets like Singapore is great way to continue to grow the sport.

"I can't wait to help introduce the fans of Singapore to the year-end WTA Championships."

Singapore becomes the ninth city to host the WTA Championships, while the 2013 event will be held in Istanbul for the third consecutive year before the switch.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.