Maria Sharapova retired from tennis by 2000.
Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suárez were the defending champions and won in the final 6 -- 2 , 6 -- 3 , against Svetlana Kuznetsova and Martina Navratilova in straight sets . Maria Sharapova . She won at least one singles title a year from 2003 until 2015 , a streak only bested by Steffi Graf , Martina Navratilova , and Chris Evert . The WTA Finals ( formerly known as the WTA Tour Championships short : WTA Championships ) , is a professional tennis tournament played annually at the end of the season for the top-ranked players on the Women 's Tennis Association ( WTA ) tour .