WTA tour
The WTA Tour is one of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) organized women's tennis tournament series. Every year it includes over 50 tournaments on all continents.
classification
Until 2008, WTA tournaments were divided into different classes (English: Tiers) , from Tier I (the highest) to Tier V (the lowest). Since then there are the following five categories:
category | Number of tournaments |
Minimum prize money | maximum prize money |
---|---|---|---|
Year-end events | 2 | $ 750,000 | $ 4,900,000 |
Premier Mandatory | 4th | $ 5,185,625 | |
Premier 5 | 5 | $ 2,216,000 | $ 2,369,000 |
premier | 12 | $ 681,000 | $ 2,000,000 |
International | 31 | $ 235,000 | $ 500,000 |
In the tournaments, world ranking points are awarded depending on the category and the number of participating players . The WTA Challenger Series , a counterpart to the men's ATP Challenger Tour , was presented as a new category in May 2012 . At such tournaments (they are also promoted under the name WTA 125s ) $ 125,000 in prize money is distributed; the tournament winner receives 160 world ranking points.
More important than the category tournaments are the four Grand Slam tournaments organized by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) .
The ITF organizes other tournaments that are also relevant to the world rankings. The highly endowed tournaments of the ITF pay out US $ 100,000 in prize money, and the tournament winner receives 150 world ranking points.
Tournaments of the WTA Tour
WTA Premier Tournaments
As part of the modernization of the WTA Tour, the tournaments at the WTA Premier Tournaments level were mainly rearranged from tournaments of the categories Tier-I, Tier-II and Tier-III. The current system provides for the premier tournaments to be staggered into three levels:
- Tournaments in the Premier Mandatory category belong to the highest tournament class within the Premier Tournaments and the WTA Tour as a whole. They can best be compared to the tournaments in the former Tier I category.
- Category Tournaments Premier 5 belong to the second-highest Tournament class within the Premier tournaments and the WTA Tour as a whole. They can best be compared to the tournaments of the former Tier II category.
- Tournaments in the Premier category belong to the lowest tournament class within the Premier Tournaments. Within the WTA Tour, they are above the International Events category. They can best be compared with the tournaments of the former Tier III category.
The Premier Tournaments have included a total of 21 tournaments since 2009. 4 tournaments belong to the Premier Mandatory category. 5 tournaments are among the Premier 5, which means that the number of tournaments gives the category its name. The remaining 12 tournaments are premier events.
Premier Mandatory
As part of the restructuring in 2009, Premier Mandatory was installed as the highest tournament category within the WTA tournaments. At the same time, the previously highest category Tier I was abolished; of the highest categorized tournaments, only those of Indian Wells and Miami retained their status. The tournaments in Beijing (previously Tier II) and Madrid (new) complete the mandatory quartet. Since 2009, the year Premier Mandatory was born, the number and venues of the tournaments have remained unchanged (this consistency within the WTA tour calendar is not given in the other levels of the new system). The following tournaments belong to this category:
- BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California
- Miami Open at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park in Key Biscane, near Miami, Florida
- Mutua Madrid Open at the Caja Mágica in Madrid
- China Open at the National Tennis Center Beijing in Beijing.
The stage 1, the main square of the Indian Wells Tennis Garden , home of the BNP Paribas Open
In the Tennis Center at Crandon Park in Key Biscayne - here the main square Stadium Court - find the Miami Open place
The Caja Magica with its main square Estadio Manuel Santana, the venue of the Mutua Madrid Open
The National Tennis Center Beijing with its main Diamond Court, the venue for the China Open
Tournaments in this category will receive prize money of US $ 4,033,254 (Madrid) and US $ 5,185,625 (Indian Wells, Miami and Beijing). All players in the main field and in the qualification field, both in the singles and in the doubles competition, receive world ranking points from the WTA - here is their breakdown:
Tournament category | S. | F. | HF | VF | AF | R32 | R64 | R128 | QLFR | Q3 | Q2 | Q1 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BNP Paribas Open | 1000 | 650 | 390 | 215 | 120 | 65 | 35 | 10 | 30th | - | 20th | 2 |
Miami Open | 1000 | 650 | 390 | 215 | 120 | 65 | 35 | 10 | 30th | - | 20th | 2 |
Madrid Mutua Open | 1000 | 650 | 390 | 215 | 120 | 65 | 10 | - | 30th | - | 20th | 2 |
China Open | 1000 | 650 | 390 | 215 | 120 | 65 | 10 | - | 30th | - | 20th | 2 |
Double | 1000 | 650 | 390 | 215 | 120 | 10 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Tournament calendar of the WTA Tour
In 2020 the following tournaments are part of the WTA Tour:
Status: January 2020