The final standings of each group were determined by the first of the following methods that applied:[3] 22 times majors winner, Steffi Graf was to be the event's global ambassador for the third consecutive year.

She then followed it up by reaching the biggest final of her career at the BNP Paribas Open, a Premier Mandatory event, but fell to Naomi Osaka.

Following that performance, Kasatkina wasn't able to maintain her form, failing to win back-to-back matches until the Asian swing, including a second round loss at the US Open to Aliaksandra Sasnovich.

Anastasija Sevastova began the year well by reaching the semifinals of the Brisbane International, losing to Aliaksandra Sasnovich.

Sevastova failed to make any impact in the rest of the hard court season, including a second round to Maria Sharapova at the Australian Open.

She bounced back by winning her first title of the year at the Bucharest Open, defeating Petra Martić in straight sets in the final.

At the Asian swing, she reached her biggest final to date at the Premier Mandatory event of the China Open but lost to Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets.

Aryna Sabalenka had a breakthrough year, starting well by reaching the quarterfinals of the Shenzhen Open and Hobart International but losing to Simona Halep and Lesia Tsurenko, respectively.

She did not make any considerable result until the Ladies Open Lugano, where she reached the final but ended up losing to Belgian Elise Mertens.

However, she did not pick up any main draw win in the rest of the clay season, including losing in the first round of the French Open to Kiki Bertens.

She then reached her first Premier final at the grass courts of the Eastbourne International, losing to top seed Caroline Wozniacki.

She followed it up by claiming her first career title at the Connecticut Open, defeating Carla Suárez Navarro in the final, breaking into the top 20 with the win.

Elise Mertens began the year perfectly by defending her title at the Hobart International, defeating Mihaela Buzărnescu in the final.

She carried this good form at the Australian Open, when she defeated 4th seed Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals to reach her first slam semifinals.

Garbiñe Muguruza entered 2018 as the 2nd ranked player but had a disappointing start of the season, including a second-round loss at the Australian Open to Hsieh Su-wei.

Muguruza did well in the Middle East, when she reached her first final of the year at the Qatar Total Open but lost to Petra Kvitová, and the semifinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships, losing to Daria Kasatkina.

She entered Wimbledon as the defending champion but suffered an upset loss in the second round to Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck.

The rest of her event delivered disappointing results including, a second-round exit at the US Open to Czech qualifier Karolina Muchova.

She didn't perform well until the clay season, reaching back-to-back semifinals at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and the Mutua Madrid Open, losing to CoCo Vandeweghe and Kiki Bertens, respectively.

Ashleigh Barty reached her first final of the year at the Sydney International, where she lost in straight sets to Angelique Kerber.

Barty did not reach a semifinal until the week prior to the French Open, the Internationaux de Strasbourg, where she retired down a set due to a back injury.

She wasn't able to win back-to-back matches until the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, reaching the semifinals before losing to Karolína Plíšková.

Wang Qiang's first half of the season was poor, including a first round exit at the Australian Open to Madison Keys.

However, at the Jiangxi International Women's Tennis Open, she won her first career title avenging her Wimbledon loss when she defeated Zheng in the final.

However, she wasn't able to sustain this form, failing to win a main draw match until the US Open, where she lost in the third round to Elina Svitolina.

Her Asian swing results were impressive, which began with her second career title at the Guangzhou International Women's Open, defeating Yulia Putintseva in the final.