The Top 2 playing before a final happens for a variety of reasons.
The first time, in Palm Springs in 1977, it was a round-robin format.
The last four times, at the WTA Finals in 2010, 2012, 2019 and 2023, it was because of the partial round-robin format, where the first place finisher in one round-robin group plays the second place finisher from the other round-robin group in the semifinals and vice versa, meaning No. 1 and No. 2 could easily collide in the semifinals.
At Roland Garros in 1996, Steffi Graf and Monica Seles were co-ranked No. 1 at the time as Seles continued her comeback to the tour, and they were the top two seeds there. Conchita Martinez, who was ranked No. 2 at the time, was seeded No. 3 and fell in Graf’s half of the draw, and they met in a semifinal between co-No. 1 and No. 2.
And then there have been several instances where seeds were based on the previous ranking period and No. 1 and No. 2 just happened to fall in the same half—just like tonight.
