Tennis News

ST. PETERSBURG, FL, USA – The WTA announced today its calendar for the 2017 season as well as a recent addition to the 2016 calendar.

Click here to check out the 2017 WTA Calendar!

The 2017 WTA season is comprised of 23 WTA Premier and 33 International events, with all roads leading to the season finale BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, followed by the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai. Beginning in 2017, WTA Media, together with WTA tournaments, will produce all main draw singles matches and the semifinals and finals of all doubles matches.

“The 2017 season promises to be the WTA’s most exciting year to date, building on the existing cornerstones of the women’s tour, said WTA CEO Steve Simon. “With more fans than ever accessing our sport to watch an unprecedented depth of player field, the WTA promises another intense race on the Road to Singapore in 2017,” Simon added.

Changes and additions to the 2017 calendar:
• St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy (Russia) and Taiwan Open (Kaohsiung): switch to week 5 (from week 6), beginning January 30
• Qatar Total Open (Doha): Premier event, switch to week 7 (from week 8), beginning February 13
• Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships: Premier 5 event, switches to week 8 (from week 7), beginning February 20
• Rio Open (Brazil): switches to week 8 (from week 7), beginning February 20.
• Abierto Mexicano TELCEL presented by HSBC (Acapulco, Mexico) switches to week 9 (from week 8), beginning February 27
• Abierto Monterrey Afirme (Mexico): switches to week 14 (from week 9), beginning April 3, after the Miami Open
• Jiangxi Open (Nanchang, China): switches to week 30 (from week 31), beginning July 24

Olympic Shifts:

• Bank of the West Classic (Stanford), Rogers Cup (Toronto), Western and Southern Open (Cincinnati) and Connecticut Open presented by United Technologies (New Haven): return to consecutive weeks, beginning July 31 after dates shifted in 2016 due to Olympic Games

Welcome Gstaad, Mallorca, and Louisville:

Ahead of 2017, a new addition to the 2016 calendar was announced March 11, the Ladies Championship Gstaad, Switzerland, which replaces the Nurnberger Gastein Ladies International tournament, held in Bad Gastein since 2007.

This year’s Gstaad event will be held July 9-17, the first women’s tennis event in Switzerland since the Zurich Open in 2008. The event couldn’t be returning to Switzerland at a better time, with Swiss tennis going through a golden era – both Belinda Bencic and Timea Bacsinszky are ranked inside the Top 20 and, International Tennis Hall of Famer, Martina Hingis is co-ranked at World No.1 in doubles.

The 2016 WTA calendar also introduces the Mallorca Open (June 13-19), a new addition to the grass court season, while the Louisville International Open in host city Louisville, Kentucky, USA, will offer an additional final hard court tune-up in August before the final Grand Slam of the year at the US Open.

Other changes in 2016, announced earlier this season, included February’s spectacular inaugural event in Russia, the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy, as well as International tournament moves to Kaohsiung and Nanchang.

Top 10 Watch

Serena Williams will continue to extend her stay at No.1: The top seed at the BNP Paribas Open recovered from a slow start on Sunday, ultimately sprinting past Yulia Putintseva, 7-6(2), 6-0; Williams is defending semifinal points from last year, and is under no threat at the top spot ahead of the Miami Open, a tournament she has won eight times. 

Agniezka Radwanska has a chance to overtake Angelique Kerber: The reigning BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global champion can climb to No.2 in the Rankings – overtaking the Australian Open winner – if she is able to reach the semifinals. Radwanska will play Jelena Jankovic in the round of 16 (Radwanska leads 6-2) with a possible match against the winner of Petra Kvitova (Kvitova leads 6-3) vs. Nicole Gibbs (first meeting).

Garbiñe Muguruza will maintain her current ranking: Despite a disappointing finish at Indian Wells – losing her second round match to American Christina McHale – Muguruza will remain at No.4 behind some combination of Williams, Kerber, and Radwanska.

Simona Halep, the defending the champion: Halep has been playing some of her best tennis of the year at Indian Wells this week, but the defense of 1000 points prevents her from moving up this week, and will fall between No.5 and No.7, defending on her final finish; the Romanian is projected to play Williams in the quarterfinals should the former defeat Barbora Strycova and the latter move past Kateryna Bondarenko on Tuesday.

Elina Svitolina, Victoria Azarenka and Ana Ivanovic can move into the Top 10: Three women have the chance to crack the Top 10 on Monday, but only if they win the title at Indian Wells. For Svitolina, it would shatter her current career-high ranking of No.14 and be her Top 10 debut, while Azarenka and Ivanovic would be making their returns for the first time since August 2014 and September 2015, respectively.

Also Worth Noting…

Svitolina will need to reach the quarterfinals or better to have a chance to improve her ranking: The Ukrainian is set to play No.9 seed Roberta Vinci (tied 1-1) on Monday.

Jo Konta has a chance to move into the Top 25 on Monday: Depending on other results, the Australian Open semifinalist will likely need to reach the round of 16 at the very least; she plays Denisa Allertova in the third round on Monday. Konta would first British woman in Top 25 since the week of March 15, 1987, when Jo Durie held the No.24 ranking spot; the last time a Brit was ranked in the Top 20 was nearly 30 years ago (week of October 13, 1986; Jo Durie, No.20)

Olympic Hopes: Should she defeat Monica Puig on Monday, Daria Kasatkina will have a chance of making her Top 40 debut and will overtake Margarita Gasparyan as the No.5 ranked Russian.