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The Women's Tennis Association, formed in 1973, is the principal organizing body of women's professional tennis. It organizes the WTA Tour, the worldwide professional tennis tour for women, which has for sponsorship reasons been known since 2005 as The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. Its counterpart organization in the men's professional game is the Association of Tennis Professionals. The Women's Tennis Association can trace its origins back to Houston, Texas when the inaugural Virginia Slims event was won on 23 September 1970. Billie Jean King was a major figure in the early days of the WTA. The WTA's corporate headquarters is in St. Petersburg, Florida. The European headquarters is in London, and the Asia-Pacific headquarters is in Beijing.
[edit] HistoryThe predecessor of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour, the Virginia Slims Circuit, was formed in September 1970, after nine tennis players, led by Billie Jean King, signed $1 contracts with Gladys Heldman of World Tennis publications. The other eight players who pledged to compete were Rosemary Casals, Nancy Richey, Kerry Melville Reid, Peaches Bartkowicz, Kristy Pigeon, Judy Tegart Dalton, Valerie Ziegenfuss, and Julie Heldman. Gladys Heldman, and a team that included associates of hers such as Joe Cullman, helped provide the foundation for the first women's professional tennis circuit. The Philip Morris cigarette brand Virginia Slims provided financial backing, and on 23 September 1970, the inaugural Virginia Slims of Houston was held, paving the way for many others of its kind. The circuit was composed of 19 tournaments, all based in the United States (one in Puerto Rico),[1] and prize money totalled $309,100.[2] Formation of the Virginia Slims Circuit resulted in part from changes that tennis was undergoing at the time and from the way prize moneys were distributed. During the first two years of the open era, a large number of male players began playing professionally, and the tournaments in which they competed, often men's and women's combined events, attracted increased investment. The International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF) began dropping several women's competitions from the tournaments it presided over. For example, in 1970, the ILTF sanctioned 15 men-only tournaments, all of which had previously been combined events.[3] The WTA attributes a large part of its development to a meeting held the week before the 1973 Wimbledon Championships. The meeting, held at Gloucester Hotel in London, united all of women's professional tennis in one tour. In 1975, the WTA increased its financial stature by signing a television broadcast contract with CBS, the first in the WTA's history. Further financial developments ensued. In 1976, Colgate assumed sponsorship of the WTA Tour from April to November. In 1979, Avon replaced Virginia Slims as the sponsor of the winter circuit, and in its first year offered the largest prize fund for a single tournament, $100,000 for the Avon Championships, in the WTA Tour's history.[2] The Colgate Series, renamed the Toyota Series in 1981, included tournaments from the across the world, whereas the Avon sponsored events took place solely in the U.S. The two circuits merged beginning with the 1983 season, when Virginia Slims returned to take full sponsorship rights of the WTA Tour. Every tournament under the administration of the WTA now became part of the Virginia Slims World Championships Series.[1][2] The WTA Tour continued to expand during these years. By 1980, over 250 women were playing professionally, and the tour consisted of 47 global events, offering a total of $7.2 million in prize money. These increased financial opportunities allowed for groundbreaking developments not only in tennis, but across women's sports. In 1971, King became the first female athlete to surpass $100,000 in earnings for a single year.[1][4] Chris Evert became the female athlete to win over $1,000,000 in career earnings in 1976. And Martina Navratilova became the first to win over $1,000,000 in a single year in 1982. Navratilova's single year earnings exceeded $2 million in 1984. In 1997, Martina Hingis became the first to earn over $3 million during a single year. In 2003, Kim Clijsters surpassed $4 million in earnings for a single year. In 2006, the WTA and players such as Venus Williams pushed for equal prize money to men at both the French Open and Wimbledon. Both of these Grand Slam events relented in 2007 and awarded equal money for the first time. This enabled Justine Henin, who won the French Open in 2007, to earn over $5 million that year, becoming the first woman in sports to do this.[5] Larry Scott became Chairman and CEO of the WTA on April 16, 2003.[6] While at the WTA, Scott put together the largest sponsorship in the history of women's athletics, a six-year, $88-million sponsorship deal with Sony Ericsson.[6][7][8] On March 24, 2009, Scott announced that he was resigning as WTA chief in order to take up a new position as the Commissioner of the Pacific Ten Conference on July 1, 2009.[7][8][9] On July 13, 2009, WTA Tour announced the appointment of Stacey Allaster, the Tour's President since 2006, as the new Chairman and CEO of the WTA.[10] [edit] Tournament categoriesThe Women's Tennis Association (WTA) divides the main women's tournaments into several categories. Premier Tournaments is a new category for tennis tournaments on the 2009 WTA Tour. The Premier Tournaments are replacing Tier I and Tier II events except that the number of those tournaments is being reduced to 20 (from 26 Tier I/II events). Tier III and IV are replaced with the International Tournaments category.
Ranking points are also available at certain International Tennis Federation events as well as the Olympics. [edit] RankingEach week, the Women's Tennis Association releases a ranking of each player's performance in singles and doubles on the women's professional tennis tour. A player's ranking points are based on the highest round she reached in each tournament ("round points"). The following table gives the distribution of "round points" for 2009.
"+H" indicates that Hospitality is provided. A player must be at least 14 years old to appear in the rankings. If a player who is 14, 15, 16, or 17 years old plays singles or doubles in a tournament that exceeds the number permitted to be played under the WTA's age eligibility rule, then that tournament and the points acquired during play will not be counted for purposes of that player's ranking. A player must earn ranking points in at least three valid tournaments to appear in the rankings. A player is awarded ranking points for the highest round she reaches. In a tournament with prize money of at least $25,000: (1) a qualifier earns main draw ranking points based on the highest round reached in the main draw plus the ranking points specified in the qualifier column of the above ranking table; and (2) a lucky loser earns main draw ranking points based on the highest round reached in the main draw, unless she loses in the first round of the main draw in which case she receives only the ranking points earned in qualifying. In a tournament with prize money less than $25,000: (1) no qualifying ranking points are awarded to a qualifier or lucky loser; (2) a qualifier who loses in the first round of the main draw is awarded only the points specified in the qualifier column of the above ranking table; (3) a qualifier who loses after the first round of the main draw is awarded points based on the highest round reached in the main draw plus the ranking points specified in the qualifier column of the above ranking table; and (4) a lucky loser earns only main draw ranking points based on the highest round reached in the main draw. A doubles team is awarded ranking points for the highest round they reach. A lucky loser who loses in the main draw earns only main draw ranking points. A player's cumulative point total is calculated on a weekly basis, counting only tournaments played within the last 52 weeks. Not more than 16 singles tournaments and 11 doubles tournaments count. The results used to determine a players ranking are those yielding the highest ranking points during the last 52 weeks, except that a player's ranking points from the following tournaments must be included: Grand Slam tournaments, Premier Mandatory tournaments, the Sony Ericsson Championships, and the best two Premier 5 tournament results for top ten players. (There are complicated rules concerning this last category of tournaments.) Each player who qualifies by ranking for acceptance into the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament, a Premier Mandatory tournament, or the Sony Ericsson Championships is entered automatically into the tournament. The ranking points earned by the player in the tournament must count on her ranking as one of her best 16 tournament results. A player who is accepted into the main draw of a preceding tournament or who is an automatic entry in the tournament automatically receives zero ranking points for the tournament if she subsequently withdraws from the tournament. That tournament must count as one of her best 16 tournament results. Any top ten player who fails to play in a Premier 5 or Premier $700,000 committment tournament automatically receives zero ranking points for the tournament. That tournament also must count as one of her best 16 tournament results. Any "marquee player" (as defined in the WTA rules) who fails to play in a Premier $700,000 committment tournament automatically receives zero ranking points for the tournament. That tournament also must count as one of her best 16 tournament results. If a player or team withdraws from a tournament before playing her/their first match, then the tournament does not count on her/their record, with the exception of automatic main draw entry tournaments and commitment tournaments for top ten and marquee players. A player who qualifies for but is unable to play the main draw for any reason receives last round qualifier points. If a doubles team withdraws in any round after the first round, then their ranking points are calculated per the round they withdrew less 50% of the difference between that round and the previous round. In addition, the player causing the withdrawal forfeits the other 50% of her ranking points; however, if she does not play in a tennis event the following week, she may apply to the WTA for reistatement of the forfeited points. For purposes of awarding ranking points, in each ITF tournament with prize money of at least $50,000, the round-of-32 is considered to be the first round of qualifying and all rules apply as if that were the first round of play. The WTA awards ranking points in qualifying starting in the round-of-32, and play in any prior round is not considered as having taken place for ranking purposes. If a player or team receives one or more consecutive byes and loses her/their first played match, then first round losers' points are awarded. If a player or team receives one or more consecutive byes and withdraws from her/their first match, then no ranking points are awarded and the tournament does not count on her/their record. If a player or team receives a walkover in the first round and there is no alternate or lucky loser to take the spot, then she/they receive ranking points from the round preceding her/their elimination. If a player or team receives a walkover in a subsequent round without having yet played a match, then she/they receive ranking points from the round preceding her/their elimination. A player or team who receives a walkover in any round except the first round after having played and won a match is awarded ranking points for the walkover from her/their opponent. A player or team who receives a wild card is awarded the same ranking points as any other player or team. If two or more players have the same number of ranking points, then the tie is broken according to the following priorities: (1) the player with the most combined total points from Grand Slam tournaments, Premier Mandatory tournaments, Premier 5 tournaments, and the Sony Ericsson Championships; (2) the player with the most total points from all tournaments, including the Sony Ericsson Championships; (3) the player with the fewest number of tournaments during the last 52-weeks (including any mandatory tournaments if the player qualified for acceptance); and (4) the highest number of points from one single tournament, then if needed, the second highest and so on. Source: "2009 Official Rulebook". sonyericssonwtatour.com. pp. 193-202. http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/3/global/Pdfs/shared/thewtatour/officialrules/rules.pdf. Retrieved January 9, 2009. [edit] Current WTA RankingsThese lists are based on the WTA Rankings.[11][12] [edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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