WTA is the Women’s Tennis Association which was formed in 1973. This is the principal organizing body of the professional tennis for women. The association organizes the WTA Tour, which is known as The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour since 2005, due to sponsorship rights. The WTA Tour is a series of worldwide tennis tournaments for women.

The Women’s Tennis Association was originated in Houston, Texas. Virginia Slims was the inaugural event and was held on 23rd September, 1970. The corporate headquarters of WTA are in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Asia-Pacific headquarters in Beijing and the European headquarters in London. After the first event in Houston, the event paved the way for many others of its kind. The Virginia Slims circuit composed of 19 tournaments, all of which were based in USA except one which was held in Puerto Rico. The prize money totaled to $309,100.

By 1980, the number of women playing professional tennis had grown to 250 whereas the tour comprised of 47 events globally. The tour offered total prize money of $7.2 million. The WTA Tour comprises of 4 grand slams, 4 premier mandatory events, 5 Premier 5 events, 10 Premier events and 31 WTA International tournaments and a year ending Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions.

The Grand Slams includes tournaments- Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open. The Premier Mandatory includes tournament like Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, and Beijing. The Premier 5 includes tournaments like Dubai, Rome, Cincinnati, Canada and Tokyo. The Premier events include tournaments like Sydney, Paris, Charleston, Stuttgart, Warsaw, Eastbourne, Stanford, Los Angeles, New Haven and Moscow.

On July 13, 2009, Stacey Allaster was appointed as the new Chairman and CEO of the WTA.

The San Diego Open is an annual hardcourt tennis tournament which is held in San Diego, California, United States. The event is also known as Southern California Open and is a Premier event on the WTA Tour. The event began in 1984 and was founded by Raquel Giscafre. The venue of the tournament is the beautiful La Costa Resort and Spa, and hence the tournament is known for top ranked players, good tennis and location in hills and atmosphere.

Throughout its history, the tournament has had principal sponsors like Mazda, Toshiba and Great American Bank. The tournament achieved its Premier status this year, but still it was an important tournament since its inception as a crucial warm-up tournament before US Open. The San Diego Open replaced the LA Women's Tennis Championships on the WTA Calendar. The tournament offers a prize money of $700,000 and the former champions include – Maria Sharapova, Justine Henin, Venus Williams, Lindsay Davenport, and Steffi Graf.

Besides the great tennis action, the tournament also offers special events like Kid’s day, Group day and many other activities.

Tournament Facts –

Venue – La Costa Resort and Spa, San Diego, California.
Surface – Hardcourt / Outdoors
Women’s Singles – 56 players
Women’s Doubles – 16 pairs
Tournament Director - Raquel Giscafre
Winner of most Women’s Singles titles –Steffi Graf – 4 titles.
Next Tournament – August 1, 2011

The Porsche Tennis Grand Prix is an annual clay-court tennis tournament which is held in Stuttgart, Germany. The tournament was first held in 1978 and is Europe’s oldest women’s indoor tournaments. The tournament is a Premier event on the WTA Tour and is the first tournament in the tennis history to be played on indoors on red clay. A 700,000 US dollars is the total prize money for winning the tournament, as well as the singles winner also gets a Porsche sports car.

The tournament has always had a heart for children and thus the proceeds of the campaign are donated to charity. In 1979, it was the only time when Porsche Tennis Grand Prix was held for men. In the year 2009, the tournament saw around 37,800 spectators. The clay court laid at the Porsche Arena is an innovative one, as it can be laid quickly and hardens quickly. This makes the court ready in a short period of time.

Tournament Facts –

Venue – Porsche Arena, Stuttgart, Germany.
Surface – Red Clay / Indoors
Women’s Singles – 32 players
Women’s Doubles – 16 pairs
Courts – Porsche Arena is an indoor sporting arena with a capacity of around 8,000 people. Porsche bought the naming rights of the stadium for 10 million euro for a term of 20 years.
First Winner – Tracy Austin
Winner of most Women’s Singles titles – Martina Navratilova– 6 titles.
Next Tournament - April 18, 2011

The Polsat Warsaw Open is an annual clay-court tennis tournament which is held in Warsaw, Poland. The tournament was formerly known as J&S Cup. The tournament began in 1995 and has been held every year since then, except in 2001 and 2008. However, the tournament returned on the WTA calendar after a year’s break. The tournament is a Premier event on the WTA Tour.

The tournament is held at Legia Tennis Centre and offers a prize money of about $600,000. As the tournament is a Premier event, many top ranked players participate in this event. 2010 event will be the 14th edition of the Polsat Warsaw Open.

Tournament Facts –

Venue – Legia Tennis Centre, Warsaw, Poland.
Surface – Clay / Outdoors
Women’s Singles – 32 players
Women’s Doubles – 16 pairs
Courts – The venue Legia Tennis Center is a tennis complex in Warsaw. The center court or the stadium has a capacity of around 6,000 people.
Winner of most Women’s Singles titles – Barbara Paulus, Henrieta Nagyová, Justine Henin – 2 titles.
Next Tournament – 17th to 22nd May, 2010.