2008 WTA Tour

The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). The WTA Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV events. ITF tournaments are not part of the WTA Tour, although they award points for the WTA World Ranking.

chedule

The table below shows the 2008 WTA Tour schedule.

January

April

June

eptember

November

tatistical Information

List of players & titles won, last name alphabetically:
*flagicon|RUS Dinara Safina - Berlin, Los Angeles, Montréal and Tokyo (Tier I) (4)
*flagicon|USA Serena Williams - Bangalore, Miami, Charleston, and US Open (4)
*flagicon|SRB Jelena Jankovic - Rome, Beijing and Stuttgart (3)
*flagicon|RUS Maria Kirilenko - Estoril, Barcelona and Seoul (3)
*flagicon|POL Agnieszka Radwanska - Pattaya, Istanbul, and Eastbourne (3)
*flagicon|RUS Maria Sharapova - Australian Open, Doha, and Amelia Island (3)
*flagicon|DEN Caroline Wozniacki - Stockholm, New Haven, and Tokyo (Tier III) (3)
*flagicon|USA Lindsay Davenport - Auckland and Memphis (2)
*flagicon|RUS Elena Dementieva - Dubai and Beijing Olympics (2)
*flagicon|ITA Sara Errani - Palermo and Portoroz (2)
*flagicon|BEL Justine Henin - Sydney and Antwerp (2)
*flagicon|SRB Ana Ivanovic - Indian Wells and French Open (2)
*flagicon|ITA Flavia Pennetta - Viña del Mar and Acapulco (2)
*flagicon|RUS Vera Zvonareva - Prague and Guangzhou (2)
*flagicon|UKR Kateryna Bondarenko - Birmingham (1)
*flagicon|RUS Anna Chakvetadze - Paris (1)
*flagicon|ROU Sorana Cirstea - Tashkent (1)
*flagicon|FRA Alize Cornet - Budapest (1)
*flagicon|GRE Eleni Daniilidou - Hobart (1)
*flagicon|ARG Gisela Dulko - Fes (1)
*flagicon|ESP Nuria Llagostera Vives - Bogotá (1)
*flagicon|ESP Anabel Medina Garrigues - Strasbourg (1)
*flagicon|CHN Li Na - Gold Coast (1)
*flagicon|FRA Pauline Parmentier - Bad Gastein (1)
*flagicon|RUS Nadia Petrova - Cincinnati (1)
*flagicon|CZE Lucie Safarova - Forest Hills (1)
*flagicon|SUI Patty Schnyder - Bali (1)
*flagicon|THA Tamarine Tanasugarn - 's-Hertogenbosch (1)
*flagicon|USA Venus Williams - Wimbledon (1)
*flagicon|CAN Aleksandra Wozniak - Stanford (1)

The following players won their first title:
*flagicon|UKR Kateryna Bondarenko - Birmingham
*flagicon|FRA Alize Cornet - Budapest
*flagicon|ITA Sara Errani - Palermo
*flagicon|DEN Caroline Wozniacki - Stockholm
*flagicon|CAN Aleksandra Wozniak - Stanford
*flagicon|ROU Sorana Cirstea - Tashkent

Titles won by Nation
*RUS - 16 (Australian Open, Paris, Doha, Dubai, Amelia Island, Estoril, Prague, Berlin, Barcelona, Los Angeles, Montréal, Olympics, Cincinnati, Tokyo, Guangzhou and Seoul)
*USA - 7 (Auckland, Memphis, Bangalore, Miami, Charleston, Wimbledon, and US Open)
*SRB - 5 (Indian Wells, Rome, French Open, Beijing and Stuttgart)
*ITA - 4 (Viña del Mar, Acapulco, Palermo, and Portoroz)
*DEN - 3 (Stockholm, New Haven, and Tokyo (Tier III))
*POL - 3 (Pattaya, Istanbul, and Eastbourne)
*BEL - 2 (Sydney and Antwerp)
*ESP - 2 (Bogotá and Strasbourg)
*FRA - 2 (Budapest and Bad Gastein)
*ARG - 1 (Fes)
*CAN - 1 (Stanford)
*CHN - 1 (Gold Coast)
*CZE - 1 (Forest Hills)
*GRE - 1 (Hobart)
*ROU - 1 (Tashkent)
*SUI - 1 (Bali)
*THA - 1 ('s-Hertogenbosch)
*UKR - 1 (Birmingham)

Race To The Championships

Unlike the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Rankings, which are based on the best performance during the most recent 52 weeks, the Sony Ericsson "Race to the Championships" (race to the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Championships held yearly in November [cite web | title = Sony Ericsson Championships | work = Sony Ericsson Championship | publisher = Sony Ericsson WTA Tour | url = http://www.sonyericsson-championships.com/1/en/home/ | accessdate = 2007-07-28 ] ) starts all players with zero points at the beginning of the calendar year. The following is the current top 20 Race To The Championships. [cite web | title = Race to the Sony Ericsson Championships | work = Rankings: Singles Standings | publisher = Sony Ericsson WTA Tour | url = http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/2/rankings/race/singles.asp | accessdate = 2007-07-28 ]

On July 30, 2008, both Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic were the first ones to have secured singles berths at the 2008 WTA Tour Championships in Doha, Qatar. [cite web | title = Top 2 Qualify for Sony Ericsson Championships | work = Sony Ericsson Championship | publisher = Sony Ericsson WTA Tour | url = http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/1/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=2482 | accessdate = 2008-07-29]

On September 4, 2008, both Serena Williams and Dinara Safina qualified for the 2008 WTA Tour Championships in Doha, Qatar.

On September 18, 2008, Elena Dementieva qualified for the 2008 WTA Tour Championships in Doha, Qatar

Players in Gold are guaranteed a place in 2008 WTA Tour Championships.

ee also

* Tennis statistics
* Grand Slam (tennis)
* WTA Tour Championships
* List of WTA number 1 ranked players
* List of female tennis players
* WTA Awards
* 2008 WTA Tier I Series
* 2008 ATP Tour

External links

* [http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com Official WTA Tour website] .

* [http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/3/global/includes/TrackIt.asp?file=http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/3/global/pdfs/events/2008/TourCalendar.pdf Official Tour Calendar 2008 (pdf)]

References