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Revision as of 19:09, 20 April 2008

File:WTA Tour.gif

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 ATP.

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.

Tournament categories

The WTA divides the main women's tournaments into several tiers:

  1. Grand Slam Events (4)
  2. Season-ending championships (Sony Ericsson Championships): with Three Million Dollars ($3,000,000) prize money.
  3. Tier tournaments:
    1. Tier I (minimum prize money of $1,340,000): There are ten (10) Tier I Tournaments.
    2. Tier II (minimum prize money of $600,000): There are sixteen (16) Tier II Tournaments.
    3. Tier III(minimum prize money of $175,000): There are seventeen (17) Tournaments in this Tier.
    4. Tier IV (minimum prize money of $145,000): There are twelve (12) Tournaments in this Tier.

Ranking points are also available at certain International Tennis Federation (ITF) events below Tier IV (see next section).

Ranking

The organization releases a weekly ranking of the players's performance in the tour. Players' ranking points are counted how they fare on individual rounds of a tournament (round points). The following table gives the distribution of "round points" (note that these values were changed for the 2007 season):

Description W F SF QF R16 R32 R64 R128 QLFR Q3 Q2 Q1
Grand Slam (Singles) 1000 700 450 250 140 90 60 2 31 25 15 2
Grand Slam (Doubles) 1000 700 450 250 140 90 2 - 24 - - -
SE Champs (Singles) 750 525 335 185 105 - - - - - - -
SE Champs (Doubles) 750 525 335 185 - - - - - - - -
Tier I $3,000,000 (Singles) 500 350 225 125 70 45 30 1 20 - 10 1
Tier I $3,000,000 (Doubles) 500 350 225 125 70 1 - - 15 - 10 1
Tier I $2,000,000 (Singles) 465 325 210 115 65 40 25 1 15 - 10 1
Tier I $2,000,000 (Doubles) 465 325 210 115 65 1 - - - - - -
Tier I $1,340,000 (56S) 430 300 195 110 60 35 1 - 15 - 10 1
Tier I $1,340,000 (28S/32D) 430 300 195 110 60 1 - - 20 15 10 1
Tier I $1,340,000 (16D) 430 300 195 110 1 - - - - - - -
Tier II $650,000 (28S) 300 215 140 75 40 1 - - 15 10 5 1
Tier II $650,000 (16D) 300 215 140 75 1 - - - - - - -
Tier II $600,000 (56S) 275 190 125 70 35 20 1 - 10 - 5 1
Tier II $600,000 (28S) 275 190 125 70 35 1 - - 15 10 5 1
Tier II $600,000 (16D) 275 190 125 70 1 - - - - - - -
Tier III $225,000 (32S) 165 115 75 40 20 1 - - 5 - 3 1
Tier III $225,000 (16D) 165 115 75 40 1 - - - - - - -
Tier III $175,000 (56S) 140 100 65 35 20 10 1 - 4 - 3 1
Tier III $175,000 (30/32S, 32Q) 140 100 65 35 20 1 - - 8 4 3 1
Tier III $175,000 (30/32S, 16Q) 140 100 65 35 20 1 - - 4 - 3 1
Tier III $175,000 (16D) 140 100 65 35 1 - - - - - - -
Tier IV $145,000 (32S, 32Q) 115 80 50 30 15 1 - - 7 3 2 1
Tier IV $145,000 (32S, 16Q) 115 80 50 30 15 1 - - 3 - 2 1
Tier IV $145,000 (16S, 16D) 115 80 50 30 1 - - - - - - -
ITF $100,000 + H* (32) 75 55 40 20 10 1 - - 3 2 1 -
ITF $100,000 + H* (16) 75 55 40 20 1 - - - - - - -
ITF $100,000 (32) 70 50 35 18 9 1 - - 3 2 1 -
ITF $100,000 (16) 70 50 35 18 1 - - - - - - -
ITF $75,000 (32) + H* 65 45 29 16 8 1 - - 3 2 1 -
ITF $75,000 (16) + H* 65 45 29 16 1 - - - - - - -
ITF $75,000 (32) 55 39 25 15 7 1 - - 3 2 1 -
ITF $75,000 (16) 55 39 25 15 1 - - - - - - -
ITF $50,000 + H* (32) 45 32 20 12 6 1 - - 3 2 1 -
ITF $50,000 + H* (16) 45 32 20 12 1 - - - - - - -
ITF $50,000 (32) 35 25 16 9 5 1 - - 3 2 1 -
ITF $50,000 (16) 35 25 16 9 1 - - - - - - -
ITF $25,000 (32) 25 17 12 7 4 1 - - 1 - - -
ITF $25,000 (16) 25 17 12 7 1 - - - - - - -
ITF $10,000 (32) 6 4 3 2 1 - - - - - - -
ITF $10,000 (16) 6 4 3 1 1 - - - - - - -

(*) “+H” indicates that Hospitality is provided

A player's point total is calculated on a weekly basis, counting only tournaments played within the last year. The top 17 tournaments of the past year count toward a player's point total, with the lowest of the player's scores being dropped from the total. The exceptions are the four grand slam tournaments and the mandatory Tier I tournament, which always count toward the player's point total, even if their score in the slam is lower than another score achieved in a non-slam tournament. All players who qualify by ranking for acceptance into the main draw of a Grand Slam or the mandatory Tier I tournament will be entered automatically. Any player who is accepted into one of these tournaments and subsequently withdraws will automatically receive zero points for the tournament and will have it count as one of their best 17 tournament results.

In 1996, the WTA started awarding players "quality points", which were calculated based on the rankings of players they defeated in tournaments. This would give more points to a player who beat a top ranked player than one who beat a lower ranked player. Quality points were discontinued after the 2005 season and are no longer used.

WTA Rankings

WTA Rankings (14 April 2008)
Rk Name Nation Points +/-
1 Justine Henin  BEL 6,105 =
2 Ana Ivanović  SRB 4,157 =
3 Svetlana Kuznetsova  RUS 3,905 +1
4 Maria Sharapova  RUS 3,876 +1
5 Jelena Janković  SRB 3,770 −2
6 Anna Chakvetadze  RUS 2,665 +1
7 Venus Williams  USA 2,586 −1
8 Elena Dementieva  RUS 2,305 =
9 Serena Williams  USA 2,296 =
10 Daniela Hantuchová  SVK 2,257 =
11 Marion Bartoli  FRA 2,198 =
12 Patty Schnyder   SUI 1,915 =
13 Ágnes Szávay  HUN 1,558 +2
14 Agnieszka Radwańska  POL 1,458 +2
15 Nicole Vaidišová  CZE 1,433 +2
16 Dinara Safina  RUS 1,392 −3
17 Vera Zvonareva  RUS 1,327 −3
18 Shahar Pe'er  ISR 1,245 +1
19 Alona Bondarenko  UKR 1,206 +3
20 Nadia Petrova  RUS 1,192 =
21 Amélie Mauresmo  FRA 1,176 +3
22 Francesca Schiavone  ITA 1,166 −1
23 Tatiana Golovin  FRA 1,150 −5
24 Sybille Bammer  AUT 1,123 −1
25 Lindsay Davenport  USA 1,055 +5
26 Virginie Razzano  FRA 1,015 +1
27 Flavia Pennetta  ITA 999 −2
28 Victoria Azarenka  BLR 985 =
29 Dominika Cibulková  SVK 933 +5
30 Sania Mirza  IND 917 +1

Records

Most titles won during the open era

Pos Player Titles
1 United States/Czech Republic Martina Navratilova 167
2 United States Chris Evert 154
3 Germany Steffi Graf 107
4 Australia Margaret Court 92
5 Australia Evonne Goolagong Cawley 68
6 United States Billie Jean King 67
7 United States Lindsay Davenport 55
7 United Kingdom Virginia Wade 55
9 United States/Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Monica Seles 53
10 Switzerland Martina Hingis 43
11 Belgium Justine Henin 41
12 United States Venus Williams 36
13 Belgium Kim Clijsters 34
14 Spain Conchita Martinez 33
15 United States Serena Williams 31

Most titles won in a year during the open era

Before 1990 (15 +):
 1. 21 - Margaret Court (1970)
2. 18 - Margaret Court (1969, 1973)
3. 17 - Billie Jean King (1971)
4. 16 - Chris Evert (1974, 1975)
4. 16 - Martina Navratilova (1983)
6. 15 - Evonne Goolagong Cawley (1970)
6. 15 - Martina Navratilova (1982)

Since 1990 (8 +):
 1. 12 - Martina Hingis (1997)
2. 10 - Steffi Graf (1990, 1993)
2. 10 - Monica Seles (1991, 1992)
2. 10 - Justine Henin (2007)
5. 09 - Monica Seles (1990)
5. 09 - Steffi Graf (1995)
5. 09 - Martina Hingis (2000)
5. 09 - Kim Clijsters (2003, 2005)
9. 08 - Steffi Graf (1992)
9. 08 - Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario (1994)
9. 08 - Serena Williams (2002)
9. 08 - Justine Henin (2003)

Oldest winners of a title during the open era

  1. Billie Jean King: 39 yrs, 7 mos, 23 days (1983 Birmingham)
  2. Martina Navratilova: 37 yrs, 4 mos, 2 days (1994 Paris Indoors)
  3. Margaret Court: 34 yrs, 4 mos, 26 days (1976 Melbourne)

Youngest winners of a title during the open era

  1. Tracy Austin: 14 yrs, 0 mos, 28 days (1977 Portland)
  2. Kathy Rinaldi: 14 yrs, 6 mos, 24 days (1981 Kyoto)
  3. Andrea Jaeger: 14 yrs, 7 mos, 14 days (1980 Las Vegas)

Most matches won during the open era

Pos Player Wins
1 United States/Czech Republic Martina Navratilova 1,442
2 United States Chris Evert 1,304
3 Germany Steffi Graf 902
4 United Kingdom Virginia Wade 839
5 Spain Arantxa Sanchez Vicario 759
6 United States Lindsay Davenport 750
7 Spain Conchita Martínez 711
8 Australia Evonne Goolagong Cawley 704
9 United States Billie Jean King 695
10 Argentina Gabriela Sabatini 632
11 United States Pam Shriver 625
12 Czech Republic Helena Sukova 614
13 France Nathalie Tauziat 606

Singles career win-loss ratio during the open era

Rank Player Wins Losses Ratio
1. United States Chris Evert 1,304 144 .901
2. Germany Steffi Graf 902 115 .887
3. United States/Czech Republic Martina Navratilova 1,442 219 .868
4. United States/SFR Yugoslavia Monica Seles 595 122 .830
5. United States Serena Williams* 369 78 .826
6. Belgium Justine Henin* 492 106 .823
7. Russia Maria Sharapova* 297 68 .814
8. United States Venus Williams* 485 115 .808
9. Switzerland Martina Hingis 548 133 .805
10. Belgium Kim Clijsters 427 104 .804
* = active player

Minimum of 25 tournaments played. The source for this table is the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) as of July 9, 2007. For reasons that the WTA does not explain, the list omits players such as Billie Jean King (.818 win ratio in 850 matches), Evonne Goolagong Cawley (.810 win ratio in 869 matches), and Margaret Court.

Grand Slam title leaders

Player Australia France Wimbledon United States Overall Total
S D MD S D MD S D MD S D MD S D MD
Margaret Court 11 8 2 5 4 4 3 2 5 5 5 8 24 19 19 62
Martina Navratilova 3 8 1 2 7 2 9 7 4 4 9 3 18 31 10 59
Billie Jean King 1 0 1 1 1 2 6 10 4 4 5 4 12 16 11 39
Margaret Osborne duPont A A A 2 3 0 1 5 1 3 13 9 6 21 10 37
Louise Brough Clapp 1 1 0 0 3 0 4 5 4 1 12 4 6 21 8 35
Doris Hart 1 1 2 2 5 3 1 4 5 2 4 5 6 14 15 35

[S=Singles; D=Doubles; MD= Mixed Doubles; A = never played in the event]

Earnings

  • Career money leaders (as of April 14, 2008)
Rank Player Prize Money (US$)
1. United States Lindsay Davenport* 22,050,839
2. Germany Steffi Graf 21,895,277
3. United States/Czech Republic Martina Navratilova 21,626,089
4. Switzerland Martina Hingis 20,130,657
5. Belgium Justine Henin* 19,448,090
6. United States Serena Williams* 18,963,327
7. United States Venus Williams* 18,476,559
8. Spain Arantxa Sanchez Vicario 16,942,640
9. United States/Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Monica Seles 14,891,762
10. Belgium Kim Clijsters 14,764,296
* = active player
  • As of April 7, 2008
    • 188 players have earned at least U.S. $1 million since 1970.
    • 34 players have earned at least U.S. $5 million since 1970.
    • 15 players have earned at least U.S. $10 million since 1970.
    • 8 players have earned at least U.S. $15 million dollars since 1970.
    • 4 players have earned at least U.S. $20 million dollars since 1970.

See also

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