WTA to change event categories to match ATP's naming structure

The WTA will change the names of its event categories to be in line with the ATP, according to *Marca*.

The women's tour currently has five tiers—Premier Mandatory, Premier 5, Premier, International and $125K events. The ATP has Masters 1000s, 500, and 250-level events.

The Premier Mandatory tournaments, Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid and Beijing—and Premier 5 tournaments, Doha-Dubai, Rome, Canada, Cincinnati and Wuhan—will change to 1000s. Premiers will be renamed 500 events under this system, while Internationals will shift to 250 events. $125Ks will also be incorporated as 125-level events.

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The newspaper said the points given to the winners might not be the same as the event level, unlike the ATP tour. The WTA currently awards 1,000 points, 900 points and 470 points for its three variations of Premier events.

The change is scheduled to be announced next week.

The WTA event in Madrid has also announced it is extending by another three days and will be an 11-day event. The WTA tour has not announced whether other tournaments will have changes.