First played in 1972, the season-ending TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships has been staged in such noteworthy locales as Boca Raton, Los Angeles, New York City, Oakland, Munich, Madrid, Doha and Istanbul, where the event moved to in 2011 and will remain through 2013. It will be held in Singapore from 2014 to 2018.

The event features the season's Top 8 singles players and Top 4 doubles teams competing for $6 million in prize money at the Sinan Erdem Dome. Martina Navratilova has the most titles in the history of the prestigious tournament with eight, followed by Steffi Graf with five and Chris Evert with four. Navratilova also has the event record with 11 doubles titles, 10 of them coming alongside Pam Shriver.

Located in northwestern Turkey within the Marmara Region, Istanbul is a tourism mecca and the fifth-largest city in the world. It previously hosted an International-level event from 2005-2010.

"This is one of the biggest tournaments for us, and for it to be brought to Istanbul in one of the fastest-growing cities in the world is a big achievement, not just for us as tennis players but for the country itself, for the young girls and boys that are growing up that have watched the sport on TV that haven't had the opportunity to watch this type of tennis," said WTA superstar Maria Sharapova.