Women's Tennis Association

Women's Tennis Association

File:WTA Tour.png
Sport	Professional tennis
Abbreviation	WTA
Founded	1973
Chairman	Larry Scott
CEO	Larry Scott
Official website
www.sonyericssonwtatour.com

Template:TennisPortal 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, United States. The European headquarters is in London, and the Asia-Pacific headquarters is in Beijing.

History

The 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 inaugral 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), and prize money totalled $309,100.

Formation of the Virginia Slims Circuit resulted in part from changes that tennis was undergoing at the time and from the way prize monies 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.

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. 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.

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. 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.

Larry Scott became Chairman and CEO of the WTA on April 16, 2003. 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. 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.

Tournament categories

The 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.

1. Grand Slam tournaments (4)
2. Year-ending championships (Sony Ericsson Championships), with prize money to be determined.
3. Premier tournaments:
   1. Premier Mandatory: Four combined tournaments with male professional players, with U.S.$4.5 million in equal prize money for men and women. These tournaments are being held in Indian Wells, Key Biscayne, Madrid, and Beijing.
   2. Premier Five: Five $2 million events in Dubai, Rome, Cincinnati, Toronto / Montreal, and Tokyo
   3. Premier: Ten events with prize money from U.S.$600,000 to U.S.$1 million.
4. International tournaments: There are 31 tournaments, with a prize money for every event at U.S.$220,000, except for the year-ending Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions in Bali, which has prize money of U.S.$600,000.

Ranking points are also available at certain International Tennis Federation events as well as the Olympics.

Ranking

Current WTA Rankings

WTA Singles Rankings (27 April 2009) Rk Name Nation Points +/- 1 Dinara Safina RUS 8,951 2 Serena Williams USA 8,272 3 Elena Dementieva RUS 7,391 4 Jelena Jankovic SRB 7,350 5 Venus Williams USA 7,102 6 Vera Zvonareva RUS 6,270 7 Ana Ivanović SRB 5,174 8 Victoria Azarenka BLR 4,646 9 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS 4,308 10 Nadia Petrova RUS 3,840 11 Caroline Wozniacki DEN 3,790 12 Agnieszka Radwańska POL 3,606 13 Marion Bartoli FRA 3,304 14 Flavia Pennetta ITA 3,040 15 Alizé Cornet FRA 2,665 16 Zheng Jie CHN 2,501 17 Dominika Cibulková SVK 2,415 18 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP 2,385 19 Kaia Kanepi EST 2,310 20 Patty Schnyder SUI 2,269

WTA Doubles Rankings (27 April 2009) Rk Name Nation Points +/- 1 Cara Black ZIM 10,070 = Liezel Huber USA 10,070 3 Lisa Raymond USA 6,180 4 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP 5,950 5 Virginia Ruano Pascual ESP 5,400 6 Samantha Stosur AUS 5,230 7 Kveta Peschke CZE 5,050 8 Ai Sugiyama JPN 4,790 9 Rennae Stubbs AUS 4,330 10 Casey Dellacqua AUS 4,308 11 Venus Williams USA 4,150 = Serena Williams USA 4,150 13 Nuria Llagostera Vives ESP 4,070 14 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP 4,020 15 Chia-Jung Chuang TPE 3,940 16 Francesca Schiavone ITA 3,895 17 Katarina Srebotnik SLO 3,754 18 Maria Kirilenko RUS 3,648 19 Nadia Petrova RUS 3,490 20 Victoria Azarenka BLR 3,411

Records

Career records

Earnings

• Career money leaders as of April 20, 2009:

Rank	Player	Prize Money (US$)
1.	Serena Williams*	23,980,811
2.	Venus Williams*	22,662,113
3.	Lindsay Davenport	22,144,735
4.	Steffi Graf	21,895,277
5.	/ Martina Navratilova	21,626,089
6.	Martina Hingis	20,130,657
7.	Justine Henin	19,461,375
8.	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	16,942,640
9.	/ Monica Seles	14,891,762
10.	Kim Clijsters	14,764,296
* = active player

• As of April 20, 2009:
  • 212 players have earned at least U.S. $1 million since 1970.
  • 40 players have earned at least U.S. $5 million since 1970.
  • 17 players have earned at least U.S. $10 million since 1970.
  • 8 players have earned at least U.S. $15 million dollars since 1970.
  • 6 players have earned at least U.S. $20 million dollars since 1970.

Winning percentages

All-surface singles career winning percentage (official WTA tour events, open era)

Minimum of 25 tournaments played. This table includes only official tour events during the open era.

Rank	Player	Wins	Losses	Win %
1.	Margaret Court	593	56	91.37
2.	Chris Evert	1,309	146	89.97
3.	Steffi Graf	902	115	88.69
4.	/ Martina Navratilova	1,442	219	86.82
5.	// Monica Seles	595	122	82.98
6.	Serena Williams*	420	89	82.51
7.	Justine Henin	493	107	82.17
8.	Billie Jean King	695	155	81.76
9.	Maria Sharapova*	305	70	81.33
10.	Venus Williams*	531	124	81.07
11.	Evonne Goolagong Cawley	704	165	81.01
12.	Martina Hingis	548	133	80.47
13.	Kim Clijsters	427	104	80.41
14.	Lindsay Davenport	753	194	79.35
15.	Gabriela Sabatini	632	189	76.98
* = active player

Sources: Except for Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova, and Evonne Goolagong Cawley (all of whom are separately sourced above), the source for this table is the 2009 Official Guide to Professional Tennis, compiled by the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, page 251. Court and King began their careers and were winning and losing matches long before the open era started in 1968; therefore, the statistics shown above do not reflect their entire careers. For example, an external website claims that Court's career win-loss record in singles was 1,180-107 (91.7%).

Clay court singles career winning percentage (official WTA tour events, open era)

Minimum of 20 clay court tournaments played. This table includes only official tour events during the open era.

Rank	Player	Wins	Losses	Win %
1.	Chris Evert	316	20	94.1
2.	Steffi Graf	268	29	90.2
3.	Justine Henin	122	19	86.5
4.	// Monica Seles	142	25	85.0
5.	Martina Hingis	109	25	81.3
6.	/ Martina Navratilova	202	47	81.1
7.	Gabriela Sabatini	196	49	80.0
8.	Venus Williams*	117	32	78.5
9.	Lindsay Davenport	120	35	77.4
10.	Maria Sharapova*	44	13	77.2
* = active player

Source: Women's Tennis Association as of April 27, 2009.

Hard court singles career winning percentage (official WTA tour events, open era)

Minimum of 20 hard court tournaments played. This table includes only official tour events during the open era.

Rank	Player	Wins	Losses	Win %
1.	Steffi Graf	330	36	90.2
2.	Chris Evert	303	36	89.4
3.	/ Martina Navratilova	340	48	87.6
4.	/ Monica Seles	303	57	84.2
5.	Serena Williams*	266	51	83.9
6.	Justine Henin	233	51	82.0
7.	Kim Clijsters	236	52	81.9
8.	Venus Williams*	294	66	81.7
9.	Maria Sharapova*	172	39	81.5
10.	Lindsay Davenport	465	115	80.2
* = active player

Source: Women's Tennis Association as of April 27, 2009.

Grass court singles career winning percentage (official WTA tour events, open era)

Minimum of 10 grass court tournaments played. This table includes only official tour events during the open era.

Rank	Player	Wins	Losses	Win %
1.	/ Martina Navratilova	305	39	88.7
2.	Chris Evert	184	25	88.0
3.	Venus Williams*	62	9	87.3
4.	Maria Sharapova*	47	8	85.5
5.	Steffi Graf	85	15	85.0
6.	Serena Williams*	45	8	84.9
7.	Justine Henin	45	10	81.8
8.	Jana Novotna	79	21	79.0
9.	Kim Clijsters	40	11	78.4
10.	Tracy Austin	43	12	78.2
* = active player

Source: Women's Tennis Association as of December 29, 2008.

Carpet court singles career winning percentage (official WTA tour events, open era)

Minimum of 10 carpet court tournaments played. This table includes only official tour events during the open era.

Rank	Player	Wins	Losses	Win %
1.	/ Martina Navratilova	516	58	89.9
2.	Steffi Graf	189	23	89.2
3.	Chris Evert	209	39	84.3
4.	Serena Williams*	34	7	82.9
5.	Martina Hingis	97	23	80.8
6.	Kim Clijsters	50	13	79.4
7.	/ Monica Seles	98	26	79.0
8.	Lindsay Davenport	93	27	77.5
9.	Tracy Austin	85	25	77.3
10.	Venus Williams*	50	17	74.6
* = active player

Source: Women's Tennis Association as of December 29, 2008.

Matches

Most singles matches won (official WTA tour events, open era)

This table includes only official tour events during the open era.

Pos	Player	Wins
1	/ Martina Navratilova	1,442
2	Chris Evert	1,309
3	Steffi Graf	902
4	Virginia Wade	839
5	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario	759
6	Lindsay Davenport	753
7	Conchita Martínez	739
8	Evonne Goolagong Cawley	704
9	Billie Jean King	695
10	Gabriela Sabatini	632
11	Pam Shriver	623
12	Helena Suková	618
13	Nathalie Tauziat	606
14	// Monica Seles	595
15	Margaret Court	593
* = active player

Sources: Except for the information concerning Evonne Goolagong Cawley (separately sourced above), the source for this table is the 2009 Official Guide to Professional Tennis, compiled by the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, page 251. Court, King, and Wade began their careers and were winning matches long before the open era started in 1968; therefore, the statistics shown above do not reflect their entire careers. For example, an external website claims that Court won 1,180 and Wade won 983 career singles matches.

Most career singles wins over World No. 1 ranked player

This table lists the players with the most career singles wins over the World No. 1 ranked player since the Women's Tennis Association began computerized rankings on November 3, 1975.

Pos	Player	Wins	World No. 1 Players Defeated
1	/ Martina Navratilova	18	Chris Evert (13), Monica Seles (3), Steffi Graf (2)
2	Lindsay Davenport	14	Martina Hingis (11), Jennifer Capriati (1), Steffi Graf (1), Amelie Mauresmo (1)
3	Steffi Graf	11	Monica Seles (5), Martina Navratilova (3), Lindsay Davenport (1), Martina Hingis (1), Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (1)
=	Venus Williams*	11	Martina Hingis (8), Lindsay Davenport (1), Serena Williams (1), Jelena Jankovic (1)
5	Gabriela Sabatini	10	Steffi Graf (7), Monica Seles (2), Martina Navratilova (1)
=	Serena Williams*	10	Martina Hingis (4), Jennifer Capriati (2), Justine Henin (2), Venus Williams (1), Lindsay Davenport (1)
7	Tracy Austin	9	Martina Navratilova (5), Chris Evert (4)
=	Chris Evert	9	Martina Navratilova (8), Tracy Austin (1)
* = active player

Source: 2009 Official Guide to Professional Tennis, compiled by the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, page 237, updated through April 28, 2009.

Titles

Most singles titles won (official WTA tour events, open era)

This table includes only official tour events during the open era.

Pos	Player	Titles
1	/ Martina Navratilova	167
2	Chris Evert	154
3	Steffi Graf	107
4	Margaret Court	92
5	Evonne Goolagong Cawley	68
6	Billie Jean King	67
7	Lindsay Davenport	55
=	Virginia Wade	55
9	// Monica Seles	53
10	Martina Hingis	43
11	Justine Henin	41
=	Venus Williams*	41
13	Kim Clijsters	34
14	Conchita Martínez	33
=	Serena Williams*	33
* = active player

Sources: Except for the information concerning Venus Williams and Serena Williams (both of whom are separately sourced above), the source for this table is the 2009 Official Guide to Professional Tennis, compiled by the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, page 252. Court, King, and Wade began their careers and were winning events long before the open era started in 1968; therefore, the statistics shown above do not reflect their entire careers. For example, the Billie Jean King career statistics Wikipedia article lists 129 career singles titles for King. And an external website claims that Court won 197 and Wade won 68 career singles titles.

Most doubles titles won (official WTA tour events, open era)

This table includes only official tour events during the open era.

Pos	Player	Titles
1	/ Martina Navratilova	177
2	Rosemary Casals	112
3	Pam Shriver	106
4	Billie Jean King	101
5	Natasha Zvereva	80
6	Jana Novotna	76
7	Gigi Fernandez	68
=	Arantxa Sanchez Vicario	68
=	Helena Sukova	68
10	Lisa Raymond*	67
11	Larisa Savchenko Neiland	66
12	Rennae Stubbs*	59
13	Wendy Turnbull	55
14	Margaret Court	48
=	Cara Black*	48
* = active player

Sources: Except for the information concerning Lisa Raymond, Cara Black, and Rennae Stubbs (all of whom are separately sourced above), the source for this table is the 2009 Official Guide to Professional Tennis, compiled by the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, page 252. Court and King began their careers and were winning events long before the open era started in 1968; therefore, the statistics shown above do not reflect their entire careers. For example, an external website claims that Court won 158 career doubles titles.

Most consecutive singles titles (open era)

1. 13 - Martina Navratilova (1984)
2. 12 - Margaret Court (1972-1973)
3. 11 - Steffi Graf (1989-1990)
4. 10 - Chris Evert (1974)
5. 9 - Martina Navratilova (1986)
5. 9 - Margaret Court (1970)
7. 8 - Steffi Graf (1988)
7. 8 - Martina Navratilova (1983)

Source: 2009 Official Guide to Professional Tennis, compiled by the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, page 252.

Most consecutive years winning at least one singles title (open era)

1. 21 - Martina Navratilova (1974-1994)
2. 18 - Chris Evert (1971-1988)
3. 14 - Steffi Graf (1986-1999)
4. 11 - Evonne Goolagong Cawley (1970-1980)
4. 11 - Virginia Wade (1968-1978)
6. 9 - Sandra Cecchini (1984-1992)
6. 9 - Margaret Court (1968-1976)
6. 9 - Lindsay Davenport (1993-2001)
6. 9 - Conchita Martinez (1988-1996)
6. 9 - Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (1988-1996)

Source: 2009 Official Guide to Professional Tennis, compiled by the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, page 252.

Most Grand Slam tournament titles

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

Annual records

Best annual singles winning percentage (open era)

Fewer than 10 losses and a minimum of 50 wins.

Rank	Player	Year	Wins	Losses	Win %
1.	/ Martina Navratilova	1983	86	1	98.9
2.	Steffi Graf	1989	86	2	97.7
3.	/ Martina Navratilova	1984	78	2	97.5
4.	Steffi Graf	1987	75	2	97.4
5.	/ Martina Navratilova	1982	90	3	96.8
6.	/ Martina Navratilova	1986	89	3	96.7
7.	Steffi Graf	1988	72	3	96.0
8.	Margaret Court	1973	102	5	95.3
9.	Chris Evert	1978	56	3	94.9
10.	Margaret Court	1970	109	6	94.8
11.	Chris Evert	1977	70	4	94.5
12.	/ Martina Navratilova	1985	84	5	94.4
13.	Margaret Court	1969	96	6	94.1
14.	Margaret Court	1971	63	4	94.0
=	Justine Henin	2007	63	4	94.0
16.	Chris Evert	1975	92	6	93.8
17.	Chris Evert	1976	75	5	93.7
=	Martina Hingis	1997	75	5	93.7
19.	Steffi Graf	1990	72	5	93.5
20.	Chris Evert	1974	100	7	93.4
21.	/ Monica Seles	1992	70	5	93.3
22.	Steffi Graf	1996	54	4	93.1
23.	Steffi Graf	1993	76	6	92.7
24.	Chris Evert	1982	75	6	92.6
25.	/ Monica Seles	1991	74	6	92.5
26.	Chris Evert	1981	73	6	92.4
27.	Serena Williams	2002	56	5	91.8
28.	Tracy Austin	1980	88	8	91.6

Source: 2009 Official Guide to Professional Tennis, compiled by the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, page 254.

Most singles titles won in a year (open era)

Before 1990 (11 +):
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)
8. 14 - Margaret Court (1968)
8. 14 - Steffi Graf (1989)
8. 14 - Martina Navratilova (1986)
11. 13 - Martina Navratilova (1984)
12. 12 - Chris Evert (1973, 1976)
12. 12 - Evonne Goolagong Cawley (1971)
12. 12 - Martina Navratilova (1985)
15. 11 - Tracy Austin (1980)
15. 11 - Chris Evert (1977)
15. 11 - Steffi Graf (1987, 1988)
15. 11 - Martina Navratilova (1978, 1979)

After 1989 (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 - Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (1994)
9. 08 - Serena Williams (2002)
9. 08 - Justine Henin (2003)

Youngest and oldest records

Youngest winners of a singles title (open era)

In the following table, only the first tournament won by each player is listed. For example, Capriati won two additional tournaments before reaching Paszek's age listed below.

1. Tracy Austin: 14 years, 0 months, 28 days (1977 Portland)
2. Kathy Rinaldi: 14 years, 6 months, 24 days (1981 Kyoto)
3. Jennifer Capriati: 14 years, 6 months, 29 days (1990 Puerto Rico)
4. Andrea Jaeger: 14 years, 7 months, 14 days (1980 Las Vegas)
5. Mirjana Lucic: 15 years, 1 month, 25 days (1997 Bol)
6. Nicole Vaidisova: 15 years, 3 months, 23 days (2004 Vancouver)
7. Tamira Paszek: 15 years, 9 months, 8 days (2006 Portoroz)

Oldest winners of a singles title (open era)

In the following table, only the last tournament won by each player is listed. For example, Navratilova won many other tournaments between the ages of 33 and 37.

1. Billie Jean King: 39 yrs, 7 months, 23 days (1983 Birmingham)
2. Martina Navratilova: 37 yrs, 4 months, 2 days (1994 Paris Indoors)
3. Margaret Court: 34 yrs, 4 months, 26 days (1976 Melbourne)
4. Chris Evert: 33 years, 9 months, 18 days (1988 New Orleans)
5. Nathalie Tauziat: 33 years, 8 months (2001 Birmingham)
6. Virginia Wade: 33 years, 2 months, 2 days (1978 Tampa)
7. Nancy Richey: 33 years, 1 month, 22 days (1975 Phoenix)
8. Amy Frazier: 33 years, 1 month 18 days (2005 Quebec City)

See also

• Tennis statistics
• Grand Slam (tennis)
• WTA Tour Championships
• List of WTA number 1 ranked players
• List of female tennis players
• Association of Tennis Professionals
• WTA Awards
• List of tennis tournaments

External links

• The official Sony Ericsson WTA Tour web site
• Unofficial WTA Tour Message Board (Forum)
• WTA and ATP tournews and players
• WTA tour schedule