WTA set to name Guadalajara as new 1000 event

HIGHLIGHTS: Muguruza triumphs over Kontaveit at 2021 WTA Finals

The WTA Tour will hold a new 1000 event in Guadalajara, Mexico, taking one of the spots previously filled by Beijing or Wuhan.

The tournament will be played in October with the exact dates to be announced next week, according to Milenio.

The city hosted the WTA Finals in 2021, organizing the eight-player tournament in less than two months when the WTA needed a substitute location for the event previously played in Shenzhen, China.

Though the switch was originally prompted by coronavirus restrictions in China, it had received added impetus by the time the tournament was played.

The WTA has stopped holding events China since November, when the Chinese government censored WTA player Peng Shaui's allegation that she had been sexually coerced by a senior government official. WTA officials have not succeeded in speaking with Peng since she made the allegation on Chinese social media, where it was soon deleted, and her few public appearances since have been tightly controlled.

Prior to holding the WTA Finals, Guadalajara was a 250 event. The new 1000 tournament will be played on the same grounds and have the same organizers. The Octagon agency is involved in the running of the event.

The WTA Tour has not yet officially announced the new hard-court event in its schedule.