The governing body of women’s tennis has announced a new circuit structure that aims to achieve equal prize money for men and women at combined WTA 1000 and 500 events starting from 2027. In recent decades, tennis has been at the forefront of the fight for equality, offering equal prize money to men and women at the four Grand Slam tournaments. However, WTA Tour events have often lagged behind in prize money compared to men’s ATP circuit events. The WTA is now taking steps to address this disparity with its new strategy.
The WTA, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, plans to gradually increase the prize money to ensure long-term sustainability for players and tournaments. Prize money parity for WTA 1000 and 500 combined events will be achieved by 2027, while single-week WTA 1000 and 500 events will reach parity by 2033.
Billie Jean King, the founder of the WTA and a tennis legend, expressed pride in the organization’s continued leadership and its ability to provide opportunities. She hopes that women in other sports and areas of life will be inspired by the WTA’s example. The revised calendar will feature 10 WTA 1000 events, with Beijing (2024) and Cincinnati and Toronto/Montreal (2025) expected to have larger fields.
The additional WTA 1000 events will be one-week tournaments held in Doha, Dubai, and a venue yet to be named. Wuhan will no longer be a WTA 1000 event, while Monterrey, Strasbourg, and Seoul have been promoted to the WTA 500 level. The WTA emphasized that new player entry rules will ensure a consistent presence of top athletes at these premium events throughout the year. The increase in two-week WTA 1000 tournaments, aligned with the ATP, signifies a clearer coordination between both tours.
The WTA is set to announce the calendar for 2024 in the upcoming months, providing further details on the implementation of the new circuit structure and equal prize money initiative.
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