WTA 1000

The WTA 1000 is the third-highest level of women’s professional tennis, ranked below only the 4 Grand Slam tournaments and the year-end WTA Finals. WTA 1000 titles are therefore some of the most coveted in women’s tennis, and tournaments within this tier are among the world’s most prestigious events, attended by thousands of fans and watched by many more on televisions around the globe.

📜 WTA 1000 History

Founded in 1990 as the WTA Tier I, the tour category later split into 2 tiers, becoming the WTA Premier Mandatory and Premier 5 tours, before these were then re-combined into a single tour level at the end of 2020 – the renamed WTA 1000.

The high-profile competitions which make up the WTA 1000 tour level take place in 9 locations around the world. The special status of these WTA events and the sizable prize money totals on offer mean you can be sure the best female professional tennis players in the world will be in attendance, all vying to make their mark in this prestigious tier of the WTA tour and claim the 1000 ranking points awarded to each tournament winner.

Serena Williams currently holds the record for the most WTA 1000 singles titles won, with 23.

💯 WTA 1000 Format & Scoring

The WTA 1000 tour level is currently comprised of 9 tournaments which are held across 7 countries: Canada, China, Italy, Mexico, Spain, the United States, and Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, with the latter 2 nations hosting WTA 1000 events in alternating years. All 9 events are played on either a clay court or hard court surface. Officially, all current WTA 1000 events are outdoor tournaments, however some are hosted at venues with retractable roofs.

WTA 1000 events are mostly divided evenly across the tennis season, although some pairs of events – the BNP Paribas Open and Miami Open, the Madrid Open and Internazionali BNL d’Italia (Italian Open), and the National Bank Open (Canadian Open) and the Western & Southern Open (Cincinnati Masters) – do take place consecutively. Each WTA 1000 event is typically staged across 7-10 days (though some tournaments last longer) and consists of a singles draw played across 6 or 7 rounds, and a doubles draw taking place across at least 4 rounds. WTA tournament winners collect 1000 WTA ranking points and a large percentage of some of the most generous prize pots on the professional tennis tour.