WTA Premier · History

The 2009 women's tennis calendar opened in Sydney with an event in a brand-new category, Premier: Elena Dementieva beat Dinara Safina 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 in the final. That year the WTA reorganised its schedule, replacing the old Tier levels with a three-step system: Premier Mandatory, Premier 5 and Premier. From 2009 to 2020 that label covered the most important events on the tour below the four Grand Slams.

A three-tier reform

The structure rewarded each event's standing with ranking points. The winner of a Premier Mandatory event took 1,000 points, a Premier 5 champion 900 and a Premier champion 470. Below them sat the International events, the lowest rung of the main tour. The word “mandatory” meant the top-ranked players were required to enter those events, while the other Premier stops left them more freedom to shape their own schedules.

The gaps showed in the prize money too. In 2020, the final year of the system, Premier Mandatory events offered about 4.5 million dollars, Premier 5 events around 2 million and Premier events between 600,000 dollars and one million, according to the category's own table.

The four Premier Mandatory events

From 2009 the top level was made up of four tournaments: Indian Wells and Miami on the American spring swing, Madrid on clay and Beijing in the autumn Asian stretch. The list never changed over the period: the same four events appeared on the 2009 calendar and on the 2020 one. Madrid, which launched its women's draw in this category in 2009, became a fixed stop of the clay swing, while Beijing carried the biggest points haul of the Asian autumn.

Premier 5 and its changes

The second level moved around more. In 2009 it comprised Dubai, Rome, Cincinnati, Toronto and Tokyo. The first Premier 5 event of the calendar was Dubai, where Venus Williams beat Virginie Razzano 6-4, 6-2 in the final. The Canadian event alternated each year between Toronto and Montreal, just as on the men's tour.

In 2012 the Gulf slot moved from Dubai to Doha, which kept that status in 2013 as well. Tokyo was listed as a Premier 5 event through 2013, and by the 2020 list it appears as a Premier tournament. The 2020 Premier 5 group consisted of Doha, Rome, Cincinnati, Toronto/Montreal and Wuhan, the latter representing the Chinese swing alongside the Beijing Premier Mandatory.

The Premier events

Below the two main levels, the Premier category gathered more than a dozen tournaments spread across the year, among them Sydney, the first stop of each calendar ahead of the Australian Open. For many players they were the route to significant points away from the biggest stages, and for organisers a way to draw top players with prize money above the International level. With 470 points for the champion, a Premier title was worth roughly half of a Premier 5 one.

The end of the category

In December 2020 the WTA announced new tournament names to align its events with the men's tour from 2021. Premier Mandatory and Premier 5 merged into a single top tier, WTA 1000; Premier events became WTA 500; International events became WTA 250; and the 125,000-dollar events became WTA 125. Points for champions stayed at their previous levels: 1,000 at WTA 1000 events, 470 at WTA 500, 280 at WTA 250 and 160 at WTA 125. With that reform the Premier name left the calendar after twelve years, from 2009 to 2020.