New categories: The WTA follows the ATP
As the Spanish newspaper Marca reports, the WTA will adopt the system of categorization for men from the coming season.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Nov 27, 2020, 04:24 pm
You can of course argue about whether the tournament victory in Madrid has to be rated four times as high as that in Munich. At least the ATP has to be credited with the fact that there is clarity in terms of categories: After the Grand Slam tournaments there are nine 100 series events (which, with the exception of Monte Carlo, are also compulsorily included in the annual ranking, with a few exceptions for veterans), the 500s like Vienna, Hamburg or Halle / Westphalia, the 250s like Kitzbühel or Munich.
The WTA now wants to implement this model, as reported by the Spanish newspaper Marca. The redesign of the categories is to be announced on December 2nd. However, it will be interesting to see whether there are exactly as many points to be won for a victory at the new WTA 1000 level: Because up until now, the Premier Mandatory events (Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Beijing) higher than the Premier 5 tournaments (Doha, Rome, Canada, Cincinnati, Wuhan).
Due to the corona pandemic, only three of the nine largest women's events in 2019 could be held - with only one regular end: Aryna Sabalenka won the title in Doha with a two-set win against Petra Kvitova. The final in Cincinnati / New York had to be canceled because Naomi Osaka could not play against Viktoria Azarenka. And in Rome, Karolina Pliskova gave up against Simona Halep when the score was 0: 6 and 1: 2.