ITF Women's Circuit

Last updated April 08, 2019

The ITF Women's Circuit is a series of professional tennis tournaments run by the International Tennis Federation for female professional tennis players.

Tennis is a racket sport that can be played individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net and into the opponent's court. The object of the game is to maneuver the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a valid return. The player who is unable to return the ball will not gain a point, while the opposite player will.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is the governing body of world tennis, wheelchair tennis, and beach tennis. It was founded in 1913 as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by twelve national associations, and as of 2016, is affiliated with 211 national tennis associations and six regional associations.

History

It serves as a developmental circuit for the WTA Tour, which is run by the independent Women's Tennis Association (WTA). There are several hundred ITF Women's Circuit tournaments each year, spread across all six inhabited continents, with prize money ranging from USD $10,000 to USD $100,000. Players who succeed on the ITF Women's Circuit earn sufficient points to be eligible for qualifying draw or main draw entry to WTA tournaments.

The WTA Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125K series, and third-tier is the ITF Women's Circuit.

The Women's Tennis Association (WTA), founded in 1973 by Billie Jean King, is the principal organizing body of women's professional tennis. It governs the WTA Tour which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women and was founded to create a better future for women's tennis. Its counterpart organisation in the men's professional game is the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). The WTA's corporate headquarters is in St. Petersburg, Florida, with its European headquarters in London and its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Beijing.

Until 2011 the ITF Women's Circuit was the level immediately below the main WTA Tour, but in 2012 the WTA introduced an intermediate level, the WTA 125K series.

The WTA 125K series or WTA 125s is an international series of professional women's tennis tournaments organized by the Women's Tennis Association starting in 2012. Sometimes called the WTA Challenger series it is the second highest level of women's competition, right below the top-tier WTA Tour, and just above the ITF Women's Circuit tournaments. Players who succeed in the WTA 125s earn sufficient ranking points to become eligible for the main draw or qualifying draw entry of WTA Tour tournaments. Titles at a 125K event are not counted as a victory on the WTA Tour.

There is also an ITF Men's Circuit, but it only incorporates the lower-level Futures tournaments. Mid-level men's tournaments, equivalent to the WTA 125k series and the bigger money events on the ITF Women's Circuit, come under the aegis of the ATP as part of the ATP Challenger Tour.

The ITF Men's Circuit is a series of professional tennis tournaments held around the world that are organized by the International Tennis Federation. The ITF Men's Circuit represents the lowest rung of the men's professional tennis ladder. ITF tournaments are incorporated into the ATP rankings, enabling young professionals to progress on to the ATP Challenger Tour and ultimately the full ATP World Tour. Nearly every professional player has spent some time on the ITF Men's Circuit.

The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is a main men's tennis governing body.

The ATP Challenger Tour, known until the end of 2008 as the ATP Challenger Series, is a series of international men's professional tennis tournaments. The top tier of annual men's tennis is the ATP World Tour, Challenger Tour events are the second highest level of competition, and the Futures tournaments on the ITF Men's Circuit are the third and fourth tier of international professional tennis competition. The ATP Challenger Tour is administered by the Association of Tennis Professionals. Players who succeed on the ATP Challenger Tour earn sufficient ranking points to become eligible for main draw or qualifying draw entry at ATP World Tour tournaments. Players on the Challenger Tour are either young players looking to advance their careers, those who fail to qualify for ATP events, or former ATP winners looking to get back into the big tour.

In 2019, reforms was made to the circuit, renaming it the ITF World Tennis Tour as a new umbrella name for former Pro Circuit and Junior Circuit tournaments and will serve as the player pathway between the junior game and the elite levels of professional tennis. The launch of the tour is the culmination of a series of ITF reforms designed to support talented junior players in their progression to the senior game, and target the prize money effectively at professional tournaments to enable more players to make a living. ^[1]

List of events

The ITF Women's Circuit has included:

The AAVA Open is a tournament for professional female tennis players played on indoor hard courts. The event is classified as a $10,000 ITF Women's Circuit tournament and has been held at the Tali Tennis Center in Helsinki, Finland, since 2008, alongside the men's IPP Open on the ATP Challenger Tour. For the first five years, the tournament had a prize fund of $25,000.

The Abierto de Puebla is a professional tennis tournament played on Hard. It is currently part of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Challenger Tour and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Women's Circuit. It was held annually in Puebla, Mexico, from 1996 to 2009. The tournament was reinstated in 2016.

The Abierto Tampico is a tournament for professional female tennis players played on outdoor hard courts. The event is classified as a $100,000+H ITF Women's Circuit tournament and has been held in Tampico, Mexico, since 2013.

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The Aegon GB Pro-Series Bath is a tennis tournament held in Bath, Great Britain since 2011. The event is part of the ATP Challenger Tour and the ITF Women's Circuit and is played on hard courts.

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References

↑ "ITF World Tennis Tour". www.itftennis.com.

External links

Official site

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[1] "ITF World Tennis Tour". www.itftennis.com.

v t e ITF Women's Circuit seasons
1990s	1994 Jan–Mar Apr–Jun Jul–Sep Oct–Dec 1995 Jan–Mar Apr–Jun Jul–Sep Oct–Dec 1995 Jan–Mar Apr–Jun Jul–Sep Oct–Dec 1996 Jan–Mar Apr–Jun Jul–Sep Oct–Dec 1997 Jan–Mar Apr–Jun Jul–Sep Oct–Dec 1998 Jan–Mar Apr–Jun Jul–Sep Oct–Dec 1999 Jan–Mar Apr–Jun Jul–Sep Oct–Dec
2000s	2000 Jan–Mar Apr–Jun Jul–Sep Oct–Dec 2001 Jan–Mar Apr–Jun Jul–Sep Oct–Dec 2002 Jan–Mar Apr–Jun Jul–Sep Oct–Dec 2003 Jan–Mar Apr–Jun Jul–Sep Oct–Dec 2004 Jan–Mar Apr–Jun Jul–Sep Oct–Dec 2005 Jan–Mar Apr–Jun Jul–Sep Oct–Dec 2006 Jan–Mar Apr–Jun Jul–Sep Oct–Dec 2007 Jan–Mar Apr–Jun Jul–Sep Oct–Dec 2008 Jan–Mar Apr–Jun Jul–Sep Oct–Dec 2009 Jan–Mar Apr–Jun Jul–Sep Oct–Dec
2010s	2010 Jan–Mar Apr–Jun Jul–Sep Oct–Dec 2011 Jan–Mar Apr–Jun Jul–Sep Oct–Dec 2012 Jan–Mar Apr–Jun Jul–Sep Oct–Dec 2013 Jan–Mar Apr–Jun Jul–Sep Oct–Dec 2014 Jan–Mar Apr–Jun Jul–Sep Oct–Dec 2015 Jan–Mar Apr–Jun Jul–Sep Oct–Dec 2016 Jan–Mar Apr–Jun Jul–Sep Oct–Dec 2017 Jan–Mar Apr–Jun Jul–Sep Oct–Dec 2018 Jan–Mar Apr–Jun Jul–Sep Oct–Dec 2019 Jan–Mar Apr–Jun Jul–Sep Oct–Dec
International Tennis Federation