In celebration of its 40th anniversary, the Women's Tennis Association announced on Wednesday that Singapore will host the WTA Championships, the most prestigious event on its calendar, from 2014-18.

Under terms of the record-setting five-year agreement, the top eight singles players and - for the first time - the top eight doubles pairs will compete for a record total purse of $6.5 million at the event.

The announcement follows an extensive global search and bidding process conducted by the WTA that elicited interest from 43 cities before the field was narrowed to three finalists - Tianjin, China; Monterrey, Mexico; and Singapore.