WTA unveils provisional calendar for 2023 season
WTA
The WTA has released the provisional calendar for the women's 2023 season, through to the US Open in September.
In what will be the 50th anniversary season of the WTA, the year will kick off with a combined ATP/WTA event (in partnership with Tennis Australia) in the form of the inaugural United Cup tournament in Australia. This will run alongside the regular Adelaide 500 and Auckland 250 events to raise the curtain on a historic year for women's tennis.
Changes to the WTA calendar this season include a new WTA 250 event in Austin, Texas, and a 250 event in Merida, Mexico, both taking place in February.
“As the WTA celebrates its 50th anniversary, the 2023 calendar showcases the incredible breadth and reach of women’s tennis,” said Steve Simon, WTA Chairman and CEO. “We are excited and proud to showcase our amazing events to our global audience of over 900 million fans, with tournaments in six continents and over 20 countries from January to early September.”
Details of the remaining section of the calendar have yet to be finalised, a stretch of the season which is likely to pose the most challenging logistical problems for the tour.
Post September, the WTA normally enjoys tournaments in Russia and China. However, tournaments have not run in these countries for the past three years because of the combined effects of Covid and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Tournaments in Russia are currently being boycotted because of the war, while China are continuing to implement a zero-covid policy which has made hosting tennis tournaments impractical.
To make things even more complicated, the WTA are still in a stand-off with Chinese authorities over the disappearance of Chinese player Peng Shuai.
Despite this, some of the new tournaments to the tour this year - in lieu of events in China and Russia - have been rich additions to the tour.
However things pan out with for the final quarter of the 2023 season, expect some exciting announcements soon.
