The WTA reduces the number of mandatory tournaments for the ‘top’ for 2027

Given the recurring criticism about the saturation of the calendar, the WTA announced on Thursday that in 2027 it will reduce the number of tournaments that the best ranked players must compete.

In the current system, the 50 best players in the world are required to play each year in the four Grand Slam tournaments, ten WTA 1000 (the most prestigious and lucrative tournament category on the circuit) and six WTA 500. In 2027, they will only be required to compete in four WTA 500 events instead of six, as announced by the women’s circuit in a statement published on Thursday. In addition, they may replace the points obtained in a WTA 1000 with those obtained in a WTA 500 or a WTA 250.

In other words, a player who decides not to compete in a mandatory WTA 1000 could still add the points achieved in a less prestigious tournament to her ranking, thus avoiding the risk of being left with zero points, as is currently the case. These new rules will apply, for the moment, only in 2027. Subsequently, the WTA will evaluate their impact to decide whether or not to maintain them in 2028.

In January the ATP had announced a similar measure by reducing, starting in 2026, the number of mandatory ATP 500 tournaments from five to four. for the 30 best players in the world. The statement published on Thursday also indicates that, for the first time, the financial allocation of the combined WTA 1000 tournaments (organized simultaneously with a Masters 1000 of the ATP circuit) It will be identical to that of the corresponding men’s tournaments. Although the WTA and Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells, Miami and Madrid already awarded the same monetary prizes to men and women, this had not yet happened in the WTA 1000 in Rome, Canada and Cincinnati.

Finally, the WTA announced this Thursday the 2027 season schedule, which will include a new tournament in the Philippines, country of origin of Alexandra Eala—number 18 in the world and one of the most popular players on the circuit. The first WTA 250 in Manila, which will replace the WTA 250 tournament in Chennai (India) created in 2025, will be held from November 1 to 7, 2027, the week before the season-ending Masters.

Among other changes, the Rabat (clay court) tournament, traditionally organized the week before Roland Garros, has been moved forward a few weeks to be held during the second week of the WTA 1000 in Madrid. In this way, the WTA 500 tournament in Strasbourg will be the only one played the week before the Parisian Grand Slam.

The WTA 250 tournaments in Hamburg and Iași (Romania), played on clay, have swapped positions on the calendar: the first will now be played the week after Wimbledon, and the second, the following week. The WTA 250 in Ostrava and Athens (held on hard courts), added to the calendar in 2026, will hold their second edition in 2027, in February and July respectively.