As the top tennis governing body in women’s tennis, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has been promoting the sport of tennis since its creation in 1973. Today, over 130 countries are affiliated with WTA, and it is one of four major women’s sports along with the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), the United States Tennis Association (USTA), and the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

Organized by simple rules and regulations, WTA offers an array of competitions for all levels of players to participate in. Listed below are just some examples:

• Tier I – BNP Paribas Open
• Tier II – Abierto Mexicano Telcel
• Tier III – HP Japan Women’s Open Tennis
• Tier IV – Bank of the West Classic
• WTA 125K Series
• Tretorn SERIE+
• Women’s Tennis Association Tour

WTA also holds the Grand Slam, an annual event in which only 4 women are able to compete. These four events are the Australian Open, US Open, French Open, and Wimbledon. All of these tournaments offer prize money; currently, the total is $42 million (US$). To be eligible for participation in these events, players must either rank within the top 16 on the Women’s Tennis Association World Rankings or win their respective wildcard tournament. The winner of each grand slam tournament receives a large sum of prize money; last year’s French Open champion received €2,011,890, which is roughly US$2.117 million today.

The Women’s Tennis Association Tour includes the following competitions: WTA International Tournaments, WTA 125K Series, WTA Champions Cup, Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Group I & II, and more. As of 2012, this tournament has generated over $145 million in revenue for women’s tennis players with all tournaments being covered by television companies across the world.

Once a player has chosen to participate in the Women’s Tennis Association Tour, it is important to be familiar with the rules and regulations of women’s tennis. First off, although this may vary from tournament to tournament, all non-Grand Slam tournaments have a round-robin format that consists of either four or five rounds (matches) played as follows:

1. Two wins give you first place;
2. Two losses eliminate your chance at the first place;
3. One win and one loss make you compete against other players with the same amount of losses;
4. Three wins qualify you for second-round play. The last two players remaining will then compete against each other for first place.

In Grand Slams, the tournament begins with 128 female tennis players in one single elimination bracket. This means that every player will compete against another until only 16 remain; however, this is not as simple as it sounds. The early rounds of a Grand Slam consist of four rounds (matches) as opposed to the five mentioned above:

1. Two wins give you first place;
2. Two losses eliminates your chance at the first place;
3. One win and one loss makes you compete against other players with the same amount of losses;
4. Three wins qualify you for second-round play. The last two players remaining will then compete against each other for first place.