Warsaw women’s tournament upgraded to Premier status

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 15:20

The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour has confirmed some tweaks to its 2009 calendar.

The biggest change is the upgrading of the Warsaw Open to Premier event status.

The Warsaw Open, which was last won by Justine Henin in 2007, will move into the week of May 18 prior to Roland Garros and will feature $600,000 in prizemoney.

The Polish event will replace the German Open that previously took place in Berlin.

Austrian and Spanish tennis fans will be excited to hear they have new International level tournaments to look forward to this year.

The womens events in Bad Gastein, Austria, and Marbella, Spain, have both been given International status.

The Gastein Ladies event, won by Frenchwoman Pauline Parmentier in 2008, will fill the slot previously occupied by the Warsaw Open and run during the week of July 20.

The Andalucia Tennis Experience in Marbella will take place the week beginning April 6.

“The upgrading of Warsaw to a Premier level tournament and the addition of two new European International events is exciting news for fans of women’s tennis, in particular in Europe,” said Larry Scott, CEO of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.

“Today’s announcement represents a strengthening of the Tour calendar in Europe, and is a positive indicator of the investment that women’s tennis continues to attract.”

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