For the singles, world No 1 Simona Halep pulled out of the tournament on Thursday, meaning Kiki Bertens has moved up from alternate to the eighth qualifier.

She joins Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber, US Open champion Naomi Osaka, Petra Kvitova, Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki, Sloane Stephens, Elina Svitolina and Krolina Pliskova. Aryna Sabalenka, the next highest-ranked player on the Race to Singapore leaderboard, is listed as the only current alternate. She will step in as a replacement if any singles player is unable to compete.

Prize money

There isUS$7 million in prize money on offer this year, which will double to US$14 million in 2019 in Shenzhen.

All singles players receive US$153,000 per round robin win and US$151,000 if they play all three matches. Players will receive US$130,000 for playing two matches, and US$110,000 for playing one match.

Alternates receive US$109,000 for playing two matches, US$89,000 for playing one match, and US$68,000 even if they do not play a match.

The winner of the singles competition will receive an extra US$1.75 million, with the runner-up taking home US$590,000. Losing semi-finalists get US$40,000.

In the doubles, the champions get US$500,000, the runners-up receive US$260,000, the semi-finalists take US$157,500 and quarter-finalists get US$81,250.

Points

For the singles, all players receive 250 points per round robin win, and 125 points per round robin loss. Losing semi-finalists get another 125 points, while the champion gets 750 points and the runner-up gets 330 points.

In the doubles, the champions receive 1,500 points; the runners-up get 1,080 points; semi-finalists get 750 points; and quarter-finalists get 375 points.

Draw

The draw for the two singles groups took place on Friday at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel.

The Red Group consists of Kerber, Osaka, Stephens and Bertens, while the White Group contains Wozniacki, Kvitova, Svitolina and Pliskova.

The doubles draw ceremony takes place at 6pm on Tuesday, October 23.

Schedule

First up on Sunday is the White Group, with Kvitova v Svitolina followed by Wozniacki v Pliskova.

The Red Group begin on Monday, with Osaka facing Stephens before Kerber takes on Bertens.

Format

The singles competition will feature eight players split into two groups of four, in a round-robin format. Each player will meet the other three players in her group over the first four days, with the top two players in each group progressing to the semi-finals.

The first-placed player in each group will face the second-placed player in the other group, with the winners of each semi-final facing each other in the championship match.

For the doubles, teams will compete in a single elimination event, starting at the quarter-finals stage.

Tiebreaking methods

The final standings for each singles group in the round robin stage are determined by most wins, and then most matches played.

In the event of two players being tied on points at the end of the round robin stage, head-to-head results will be used to determine who qualifies for the semi-finals.

If three players are tied then a player having played less than all three matches is automatically eliminated. The winner of the match between the two remaining tied players will progress.

If the players are still tied, then it goes to highest percentage of sets won, and then highest percentage of games won.

Odds

Osaka is $5 to win the tournament with Oddschecker, while Kerber, defending champion Wozniacki and Petra Kvitova are at $6.5.