The WTA Tier I tournaments were
Women's Tennis Association
The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) is the principal organizing body of women's professional tennis. It governs the WTA Tour which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women and was founded to create a better future for women's tenn ...
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
elite tournaments held from 1990 until the end of the 2008 season. From 1988 to 1990, the different levels of WTA tournaments were referred to by the term 'Category', and there were 5 categories.
Two of the Tier I tournaments,
Indian Wells and
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
, were also joint events held simultaneously with the
ATP Tour
The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organ ...
Masters Series.
There were initially 6 Tier I tournaments held annually from 1990. The list expanded to 8 events in 1993, 9 in 1997 and 10 in 2004, before being scaled back to 9 for 2008.
In
2009 the WTA changed the tournament categories, so that the majority of Tier I and Tier II tournaments were in one category,
Premier Tournaments, split into three categories.
Events
Singles results
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
Singles champions
Per year
Per player
* ''DOH = Doha, IND = Indian Wells, MIA = Miami, CHA = Charleston, BER = Berlin, ROM = Rome, CAN = Canada, TOK = Tokyo, MOS = Moscow, SAN = San Diego, ZUR = Zürich, CHI = Chicago, BOC = Boca Raton, PHI = Philadelphia.''
* ''Miami before 2000 was held in Key-Biscayne, Charleston before 2001 was held in Hilton Head, Tokyo in 1993 was held in Yokohama; Chicago has been a Tier I only in 1990, Boca Raton in 1991 and 1992, Philadelphia from 1993 to 1995, Zürich from 1993 to 2007 and San Diego from 2004 to 2007.''
Tier I records & statistics
Singles
* The most titles won:
Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis (, sk, Martina Hingisová; 30 September 1980) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. Hingis is the first Swiss player, male or female, to win a major title and attain a world No. 1 ranking. She spent a total of 209 weeks a ...
, 17
* The most final appearances: Martina Hingis, 27
* The most wins of a particular Tier I tournament: 5 Steffi Graf, Berlin (1991-1994, 1996) Martina Hingis, Tokyo (1997, 1999-2000, 2002, 2007)
Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American inactive professional tennis player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for ...
, Miami (2002-2004, 2007-2008)
* The most consecutive wins of a particular Tier I tournament:
: Steffi Graf, Berlin, 4 (1991—1994)
: Conchita Martinez, Rome, 4 (1993-1996)
:
Monica Seles
Monica Seles (; hu, Széles Mónika, ; sr, Моника Селеш, Monika Seleš; born December 2, 1973) is a retired professional tennis player who represented Yugoslavia and the United States. A former world No. 1, she won nine Grand Sla ...
, Canadian Open, 4 (1995—1998)
; Fastest to...
* 5 titles: in 1 year, Hingis (Tokyo 2000 - Zurich 2000)
* 10 titles: in 3 years, Hingis (Tokyo 1997 - Tokyo 2000)
* 15 titles: in 5 years, Hingis (Tokyo 1997 - Tokyo 2002)
* 17 titles: in 12 years, Hingis (Tokyo 1997 - Tokyo 2008)
* Quadruple titles:
Tokyo—Miami—Canada—Zurich ("The Hard Quadruple") Hingis, 2000
* Triple titles:
Indian Wells—Miami—Canada ("The Hard Triple") Clijsters, 2005
Indian Wells—San Diego—Zurich ("The Hard Triple") Sharapova, 2006
* Double titles:
; Winners of 6 series tournaments on hard:
* Hingis (Tokyo 96, Miami 97, Indian Wells 98, Canada 99, Zurich 00, Moscow 00).
; Winners of 5 series tournaments on hard:
* Sharapova (Tokyo 05, Indian Wells 06, San Diego 06, Zurich 06, Doha 08).
; Winners of 3 series tournaments on clay:
* Martinez (Rome 93, Hilton Head 94, Berlin 98).
* Hingis (Hilton Head 97, Rome 98, Berlin 99).
; Winners of the series tournaments on three surfaces:
* Navratilova (Chicago 90, Hilton Head 90, Tokyo 93).
A number of players hold records for winning the tournaments multiple times, while other records are achieved for successive tournament wins, mini-combination victories amongst others.
* Conchita Martínez won the Italian Open four straight times, from 1993 to 1996, and reached the final in 1997.
* Martina Hingis has won all the different Tier I tournaments except for the San Diego event, which became a Tier I event in 2004, during her three-year withdrawal from the sport which ended in late 2005.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:WTA Tier I Tournaments
* Tier 1
Recurring sporting events established in 1990
Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2008