On the women’s side of professional tennis, the WTA Tour forms the global competitive structure. This is where the world’s best players compete – in a system that in many ways mirrors the ATP, but also has its own history and dynamics.
To fully understand the landscape of world tennis, it is essential to see how the WTA operates – not as a copy of the ATP, but as an equally central and independent part of the sport.
WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) was founded in 1973 by players, with Billie Jean King as the driving force behind the initiative.
At the time, women’s tennis faced significantly weaker conditions compared to the men’s game – in terms of prize money, visibility, and opportunities. This led players to take action and create their own structure.
The breakthrough came with the group known as the “Original 9” – players who broke away and laid the foundation for a professional women’s tour.
This has shaped the WTA into:
Like the ATP, the WTA is not a traditional company with a single owner. Instead, it operates through a collaboration between multiple stakeholders:
Decisions are made by a board where both players and tournaments are represented, ensuring a balance between sporting integrity and commercial interests.
Day-to-day operations are led by a CEO, while major strategic decisions are made collectively within the organization.
In practice, the WTA functions as:
The WTA is funded through a combination of global revenue streams rather than a single investor.
These include:
In recent years, the WTA has further strengthened its global position through expanded partnerships and investments in the commercial development of the tour.
Just like the ATP on the men’s side, the WTA governs the professional women’s tour.
This includes:
Results from one tournament directly impact opportunities in the next – regardless of where in the world it is played.
The WTA Tour is structured across multiple levels that define the hierarchy of women’s tennis.
As on the ATP Tour, higher levels offer more ranking points and carry greater sporting significance.
The players who compete in a WTA tournament are determined, just like on the ATP side, through an entry list based on rankings.
This means:
The system ensures fair and global competition.
The structure of the ATP and WTA tours is fundamentally similar – but there are important differences in history and development.
Both tours:
However, while the ATP evolved from a players’ association that later took over the tour, the WTA was built from the outset as a dedicated structure to create equal conditions within the sport.
This gives the WTA a strong identity connected to:
The WTA Tour spans the entire world, with tournaments across Europe, Asia, the United States, and Australia.
Players plan their seasons in much the same way as on the ATP side:
This makes women’s tennis a fully integrated global system – where each event influences the next.
Nordea Open is also part of the WTA Tour, meaning the event is integrated into the professional global system of women’s tennis.
Just like on the men’s side, the player field is determined by rankings and entry lists, meaning players qualify through their results on tour.
For the tournament, this means that Båstad each summer is part of both the ATP and WTA calendars – creating a unique meeting point for world-class tennis.
In the next part, we take a closer look at the ITF Tour – and the pathway from junior and development levels up to the ATP and WTA tours.
