The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Rankings is the worldwide computer ranking for women?s professional tennis. It?s a ranking system that
reflects a player?s performance in Tournament play. The ranking system is a 52-week, cumulative system in which the number of
Tournament results that comprise a player?s ranking is capped at 17 Tournament results for Singles and 11 Tournament results for
Doubles. The results used to determine a player?s ranking are the Tournaments yielding the player?s highest Ranking points over the
past 52 weeks including her Ranking points from the Mandatory Tier I Tournament and the Grand Slam Tournaments, if the player
qualifies. The rankings determine player acceptances and seeding for all Tournaments. The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Rankings are
computed and published weekly by the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour from its US Headquarters in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA.
NOTE: ITF Women?s Circuit Tournaments with prize money of $25,000 or less are processed a minimum of one (1) week following the
conclusion of the Tournament.
All players who qualify by ranking for acceptance into the Main Draw of a Grand Slam Tournament will be entered
automatically. The ranking points earned by any player who competes in the Main Draw of a Grand Slam
Tournament must count on a player?s ranking as one (1) of her best 17 Tournament results. Any player who is
originally accepted into the Main Draw of a Grand Slam Tournament, or becomes a direct acceptance and
subsequently withdraws and therefore fails to play the Grand Slam Tournament, will automatically receive zero (0)
points for the Tournament and it will count on that player?s ranking as one (1) of her best 17 Tournament results.
All players who qualify by ranking (including Special Ranking) for acceptance into the Main Draw of the Mandatory
Tier I Tournament will be entered automatically. The ranking points earned by any player who competes in the Main
Draw of the Mandatory Tier I Tournament must count on a player?s ranking as one (1) of her best 17 Tournament
results. Any player who is originally accepted into the Main Draw of the Mandatory Tier I Tournament, or becomes a
direct acceptance and subsequently withdraws and therefore fails to play the Mandatory Tier I Tournament, will
automatically receive zero (0) points for the Tournament and it will count on that player?s ranking as one (1) of her
best 17 Tournament results.
With the exception of the Grand Slams and the Sony Ericsson Championships, all singles and doubles 1st round
losers in Tournaments with prize money of $25,000 and higher receive one (1) Ranking point regardless of draw size.
Players receive two (2) Ranking points for a 1st round loss at Grand Slams (in singles, doubles and qualifying singles).
In the Sony Ericsson Championships singles event, players are awarded Round of 16 Ranking points for 4th place in
the round robin competition and in the Sony Ericsson Championships doubles event players are awarded semifinal
Ranking points for a 1st round loss. See chart above for details.
For the purposes of awarding Ranking points, in all ITF Tournaments with prize money of $50,000 or greater, the
Round of 32 will be considered to be the FIRST round of Qualifying and all rules will apply as if that were the 1st
round of play. In these ITF Tournaments, the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour will only award Ranking points in Qualifying
starting in the Round of 32 and play in any round prior to the Round of 32 will not be considered as having taken
place for ranking purposes.
All prize money totals in the chart above represent the Minimum prize money that will be awarded.
GENERAL RULES
Singles and Doubles
Players are ranked on the basis of their total points.
Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Tournaments (Mandatory Tier I through Tier IV) plus ITF
$100,000, $75,000 and $50,000 events (as long as completed by the Sunday of that week) are processed on a
weekly basis. ITF $10,000 through $25,000 events are processed a minimum of one (1) week following the
completion of the Tournament. Points stay valid for 52 weeks from the week in which a Tournament is included in the
Ranking Totals.
Players must have at least three (3) valid Tournaments to appear on the Rankings. Players under the age
of 14 cannot obtain a computer ranking. If a player under the age of 14 plays singles or doubles in a Tournament,
that Tournament and the points acquired during play will not be counted for ranking purposes for that player. If a
player plays singles or doubles in a Tournament that exceeds the number permitted to be played under the Age
Eligibility Rule, that Tournament and the points acquired during play will not be counted for ranking purposes for that
player.
If a Player or Team receives one (1) or more consecutive byes and loses her/their 1st match played, 1st round losers?
points will be awarded and the Player or Team shall receive Prize Money for the round reached.
If a Player or Team receives one (1) or more consecutive byes and withdraws from her/their 1st match, no ranking
points shall be awarded, the Tournament will not count on her/their record and no Prize Money shall be paid out.
If a Player or Team receives a walkover in the 1st round and there is no Alternate or Lucky Loser to take the spot, or if
a Player or Team receives a walkover in a subsequent round without having yet played a match, the walkover will be
treated as a bye for ranking data purposes.
A Player or Team who receives a walkover in any round except the 1st round, after having played and won a match,
shall be awarded Ranking points, for the walkover from their opponent. For any disciplinary default occurring in a
Tournament after the match begins, the advancing player or team will be awarded Ranking points over her opponent
or team.
Players or Teams who withdraw from a Tournament before playing their 1st match will not have the Tournament count
on their record.
Players or Teams who receive Wild Cards are awarded the same Ranking points as any other player.
If the Singles or Doubles event of a Tournament is cancelled due to poor weather and there has been no play, 1st
round Prize Money will be paid out to the players. If play has commenced and been terminated before the
Tournament is concluded, players will be paid loser?s Prize Money for the individual round reached. Additionally, if the
1st round has been completed, all players/teams will receive their Ranking points earned through the last completed
round only and the Tournament will count as a Tournament played. If a Tournament is officially terminated and the
finals have not been completed, the finalists will each receive finalist?s Prize Money and Ranking points. The
difference between the winner and finalist Prize Money will revert back to the Tournament.
When two (2) or more players have the same number of Ranking points, the tie for the ranking position will be decided
according to the following priorities:
a) The player with the most total points from Grand Slams, Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Tier I Tournaments and the
Sony Ericsson Championships;
b) The player with the most total points from all Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Tournaments;
c) The player with the fewest number of tournaments in a 52-week period (including the Mandatory Tier I
Tournament, if the player qualified for acceptance);
d) The highest number of points from one (1) single Tournament, then, if needed, the second highest, and so on.
If all these items are the same, the Rank for any remaining players will be considered to be the same or tied for that
Ranking Position. Last Name followed by First Name will list the players who are tied in the Ranking Alphabetically. If
both the First and Last Names are the same, the players will be listed according to whichever one (1) is encountered
first during the ranking process.
If a player qualifies but is unable to play the Main Draw for any reason, she will receive last-round Qualifying prize
money and QLFR points.
Singles
Players are awarded Ranking points for the highest round they reach.
In Tournaments where prize money is $25,000 or greater:
�� Qualifiers earn Main Draw Ranking points based on the highest round reached in the Main Draw plus the
Ranking points specified in the Qualifier (QLFR) column.
�� Qualifiers who lose in the 1st round of the Main Draw are awarded only the Ranking Points specified in the
Qualifier (QLFR) column.
�� Lucky Losers earn only the Main Draw Ranking points based on the highest round reached in the Main Draw
unless they lose in the 1st round of the Main Draw in which case they receive only the Ranking points earned
in the Qualifying.
In Tournaments where prize money is less than $25,000, no Qualifying Ranking points are awarded to Qualifiers or
Lucky Losers. With regard to the Main Draw: Qualifiers who lose in the 1st round of the Main Draw are awarded only
the points specified in the Qualifier (QLFR) column. However, Qualifiers earn Main Draw Ranking points based on
the highest round reached in the Main Draw plus the points specified in the Qualifier (QLFR) column. Lucky Losers
earn only Main Draw Ranking points based on the highest round reached in the Main Draw.
Entries and seeding are determined by highest rank. In the event of a tie, the 1st tie-break procedure is the highest
ranking from the previous week. The 2nd tie-break procedure is the fewest number of Tournaments a played over the
previous 52-week period (including the Mandatory Tier I Tournament, if the player qualified for acceptance).
Doubles
Players are awarded Ranking points for the highest round they reach.
Entries and seeding are determined by highest combined rank. In the event of a tie, the 1st tie-break procedure is the
team with the greatest combined total points. The 2nd tie-break procedure is the team with the highest combined
ranking from the previous week. The 3rd tie-break procedure is the team with the fewest combined number of
Tournaments played over the previous 52-week period. See Grand Slam Rulebook for Grand Slam entry procedures
and Doubles Qualifying.
For entries, unranked players will be assigned a rank equal to one (1) plus the rank of lowest player on the latest
rankings. Teams who receive Wild Cards are awarded the same Ranking points as any other team.
Lucky Losers who lose in the Main Draw are awarded Main Draw Ranking points only.
