WTA Tier III tournaments

The WTA Tier III tournaments were Women's Tennis Association tennis third-level tournaments held from 1990 until the end of the 2008 season. The line-up of events varied over the years due to tournaments being promoted, demoted or cancelled.[1]

From 2009, most Tier III and Tier IV tournaments from previous seasons became WTA International Tournaments owing to a category change.[2] The main reason for the changes was to ease the pressure on players in terms of the number of tournaments that they were required to play.[3]

Events

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Tournament Complete sponsored name City(s) Country A Court surface Tier III from Years Current/
Defunct
VS of Houston Virginia Slims of Houston Houston   United States Clay 1990 1
Tampa Eckerd Open Tampa, Florida   United States Clay 1990 1
Newport Virginia Slims of Newport Newport   United States Grass 1990 1
San Diego Toshiba Classic San Diego   United States Hard 1990–91 2
San Antonio New Haven Open at Yale San Antonio   United States Hard 1990–92 3
Sydney New South Wales Open Sydney   Australia Hard 1990–92 3 Current
Leipzig Sparkassen Cup Leipzig   Germany Carpet (i) 1990–92 3
Barcelona Barcelona Ladies Open Barcelona   Spain Clay 1991–92 2 Current
Lucerne European Open Lucerne   Switzerland Clay 1992–94 3
Osaka Asian Open Osaka   Japan Carpet (i) 1992–94 3
Budapest GDF Suez Grand Prix Budapest   Hungary Carpet (i) (1993)
Clay (2007–08)
1993
2007–08
3 Current
Kitzbühel WTA Austrian Open Kitzbühel   Austria Clay 1993 1
Schenectady OTB International Open Schenectady   United States Hard 1993–94 2
Brisbane Danone Hardcourt Championships Brisbane   Australia Hard 1993–94 2
Linz Generali Ladies Linz Linz   Austria Carpet (i) 1993–97 5 Current
Oklahoma City
Memphis
Cellular South Cup Oklahoma City (1993–2001)
Memphis (2002–08)
  United States Hard (i) 1993–2008 16
Strasbourg Internationaux de Strasbourg Strasbourg   France Clay 1993–2008 16 Current
Tokyo Outdoor Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships Tokyo   Japan Hard 1993–2008 16
Birmingham Aegon Classic Birmingham   United Kingdom Grass 1993–2008 16 Current
Quebec City Challenge Bell Quebec City   Canada Carpet (i) 1993–2008 16 Current
Moscow Kremlin Cup Moscow   Russia Carpet (i) 1994–96 3 Current
San Juan Puerto Rico Open San Juan   Puerto Rico, USA Hard 1995 1
Zagreb
Bol
Croatian Bol Ladies Open Zagreb (1995)
Bol (2000–03)
  Croatia Clay 1995
2000–2003
5
Jakarta Danamon Open Jakarta   Indonesia Hard 1995–96 2
Warsaw Warsaw Open Warsaw   Poland Clay 1995–98
2002–10
5
Luxembourg City BGL Luxembourg Open Luxembourg City   Luxembourg Carpet (i) (1996–2000)
Hard (i) (2001–04, 2008)
1996–2004
2008
10 Current
's-Hertogenbosch Ordina Open 's-Hertogenbosch   Netherlands Grass 1996–2008 13 Current
Madrid Madrid Open Madrid   Spain Clay 1997–2003 7
Gold Coast Brisbane International Gold Coast   Australia Hard 1997–2008 12
Prague ECM Prague Open Prague   Czech Republic Clay 1998 1
VS of Boston Virginia Slims of Boston Boston, Massachusetts   United States Hard 1998 1
Cairo Dreamland Egypt Classic Cairo   Egypt Clay 1999 1
Sopot Orange Warsaw Open Sopot   Poland Clay 1999–2004 6
Kuala Lumpur
Bali
Wismilak International (1999–2006)
Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic (2007–08)
Kuala Lumpur (1999–2000)
Bali (2001–08)
  Malaysia
  Indonesia
Hard 1999–2008 10
Vienna WTA Austrian Open Klagenfurt (2000)
Vienna (2001–04)
  Austria Clay 2000–04 5
Canberra Canberra International Canberra   Australia Hard 2001 1
Doha Qatar Ladies Open Doha   Qatar Hard 2001–03 3
Bogotá Copa Sony Ericsson Colsanitas Bogotá   Colombia Clay 2001–08 8 Current
Acapulco Abierto Mexicano Telcel HSBC Acapulco   Mexico Clay 2001–08 8 Current
Hasselt Gaz de France Stars Hasselt   Belgium Hard (i) 2004–06 3
Cincinnati Western & Southern Open Cincinnati   United States Hard 2004–2008 5 Current
Guangzhou Guangzhou International Women's Open Guangzhou   China Hard 2004–08 5 Current
Bangkok PTT Bangkok Open Bangkok   Thailand Hard 2005–07 3
Kolkata Sunfeast Open Kolkata   India Hard (i) 2005–07 3
Istanbul İstanbul Cup Istanbul   Turkey Clay 2005–08 4 Current
Bangalore Bangalore Open Bangalore   India Hard 2006–08 3
Bad Gastein Gastein Ladies Bad Gastein   Austria Clay 2007–08 2 Current
Viña del Mar Cachantún Cup Viña del Mar   Chile Clay 2008 1

Notes

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^A a Years in the "surface" or "country" columns only refer to the period that the tournament was played on the surface or in that country as a Tier III tournament.

References

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  1. ^ "Acura Classic upgrades to WTA Tour Tier I status". Acura Classic. 5 March 2004. Retrieved 3 August 2009.
  2. ^ Robson, Douglas (10 November 2008). "Players, officials iron out changes to WTA's 2009 plans". USA Today. Retrieved 3 August 2009.
  3. ^ Tandon, Kamakshi. "Withdrawal symptoms: WTA Tour looks at pullouts". tennis.com. Retrieved 3 August 2009.
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