The season commenced on 4 January with the Abu Dhabi WTA Women’s Tennis Open, which is currently underway. The Grand Slam events of Australia and Wimbledon are scheduled as normal, as well as the first 4 events in the new WTA 1000 category: Dubai, Miami, Madrid, and Rome.
The schedule reflects a fairly typical WTA Tour calendar for the majority of the season past mid-March. However, a few changes have been made to account for the Coronavirus pandemic. The BNP Paribas Open (Indian Wells) will no longer be held in March with plans to delay it until a later date in the year. The full calendar is as follows:
The news also coincides with a 2021 rebrand and new naming system for tournaments. The new design and campaign ‘WTA For the Game’ aims at creating a deeper connection with fans.
The tournament categories will also align with the men’s Association Tennis Professionals (ATP) to create consistency across professional tennis. Outside of the Grand Slams, WTA events will now be categorised as WTA 1000 (incorporating the former Premier Mandatory and Premier 5 tournaments); WTA 500 (formerly Premier 700); WTA 250 (International); and WTA 125 (125K Series).
The move is seen as part of a wider plan to better integrate men’s and women’s tennis for the benefit of fans, broadcasters, and commercial partners. The WTA was formed in 1973 by Billie Jean King to give the women’s tennis better and fairer representation. Almost 50 years on, this could finally be the start of merging the WTA and ATP into a unified body.
The full year WTA calendar from July onwards will be published in due course.