The 2010 WTA Tour Championships was held in Doha, Qatar from October 26 to October 31. It was the third and final time that the Khalifa International Tennis Complex hosted the WTA Tour Year-End Singles and Doubles Championships. In 2011 the competition will move to Istanbul, Turkey.

Serena Williams was the defending singles champion. She qualified again but withdrew due to a continuing foot injury.
Nuria Llagostera Vives and María José Martínez Sánchez were the defending doubles champions, but they didn't qualify this year.
Elena Dementieva announced her retirement from tennis in the tournament after 13 years of playing and two Grand Slam finals, as well as an Olympic gold medal.

Kim Clijsters defeated Caroline Wozniacki, 6–3, 5–7, 6–3.

Gisela Dulko / Flavia Pennetta defeated Květa Peschke / Katarina Srebotnik, 7–5, 6–4.

On September 29, Wozniacki was announced as the first qualifier after she won her second round match in Tokyo.

Caroline Wozniacki enjoyed her best season so far, winning six singles titles, the most on the 2010 Tour, and achieving the world no. 1 ranking after reaching the quarterfinals, and later winning, the China Open. She became the fifth player in the WTA Tour's history to not win a Grand Slam event before achieving the world no. 1 status. Wozniacki won her first title at the MPS Group Championships over Olga Govortsova, 6–2, 7–5. Her best period was after Wimbledon where she won 5 of 7 consecutive tournaments she played, beginning with the e-Boks Sony Ericsson Open where she defeated Klára Zakopalová 6–2, 7–6. After this she won back-to-back titles in Rogers Cup over Vera Zvonareva 6–3, 6–2 and defended the Pilot Pen Tennis title defeating Nadia Petrova 6–3, 3–6, 6–3. Later she again won two consecutive titles in Tokyo and the China Open defeating Elena Dementieva 1–6, 6–2, 6–3 and Vera Zvonareva 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, respectively. As well Wozniacki also reached the final of the BNP Paribas Open losing to Jelena Janković 6–2, 6–4. At the Grand Slams, Caroline reached the fourth round of the Australian Open losing to Li Na 6–4, 6–3. She reached her first French Open quarterfinal, but lost there to eventual champion Francesca Schiavone 6–2, 6–3. At Wimbledon she suffered a fourth round loss to Petra Kvitová 6–2, 6–0. In the US Open she had her first Grand Slam top seed while world no. 1 Serena Williams was injured, but lost in the semifinals 6–4, 6–3 to Vera Zvonareva. This was her second appearance at the tournament after making the semifinals in 2009.

On October 1, Zvonareva qualified after reaching the quarterfinals in Tokyo.

Vera Zvonareva enjoyed a successful second half of the season. She began the year by falling out of the top 20 after failing to defend her Australian Open semifinal points, when she fell to Victoria Azarenka in the fourth round and failed to defend her title at the BNP Paribas Open. She won her only title of the year in the PTT Pattaya Open in Thailand as the defending champion, defeating the local Tamarine Tanasugarn in the final 6–4, 6–4. She reached five other finals but lost in each of them. She lost to Samantha Stosur 6–0, 6–3 at the Family Circle Cup, to Wozniacki at both the Rogers Cup and the China Open 6–3, 6–2 and 6–3, 3–6, 6–3 respectively. Zvonareva's main success began when she reached her first Grand Slam final at the Wimbledon Championships after defeating Kim Clijsters for the first time in the quarterfinals, but she lost the final to defending champion Serena Williams 6–3, 6–2. She reached a consecutive Grand Slam final at the US Open after defeating top seed Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals, but ended up losing again to the defending champion, this time Kim Clijsters. Zvonareva reached a career-high world no. 2 at the start of the Tour Championships. This was her fourth appearance there, reaching the semifinals in 2008.