IN a huge rebranding announcement overnight, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has undergone a facelift as tennis looks to go into a new year, uninterrupted. With so much unprecedented about 2020, it seems like the perfect time for a new-look tournament structure to match the ATP Tour’s competition categories, while the new-look WTA logo and WTA For The Game campaign will aim to boost the profile of women’s tennis and hark back to those who led the way.

As stated in the WTA press release, the rebranding “redefin[es] the organisation’s strength as a collective unit of inspiring athletes and tournaments”, with Micky Lawler, WTA President and head of marketing initiatives stating that the new-look logo design celebrates and embraces the trailblazers of the sport, including Billie Jean King, who founded the association in 1973.

“Our new logo embraces the visual language of tennis ad celebrates heroic women who come together ‘For The Game,’” Lawler said. “We will wear it as a badge of pride and a reminder of the power of unity among strong individuals – by joining forces, we build something bigger than ourselves.”

While the rebranding is of course a significant change, there is no doubt the revamped tournament categories will create more unity in a year that has seen interrupted matchplay due to COVID-19 restrictions and a proposed Professional Tennis Players Association, among other things.

As of 2021, the WTA Tour will share the same tournament tier structure as the ATP Tour, with the WTA 1000 (combining the former Premier Mandatory and Premier 5 tournaments); WTA 500 (formerly Premier 700); WTA 250 (International); and WTA 125 (125K Series) seeing the two competitions align and help create consistency across the men’s and women’s Tours. Lawler said that streamlining the two competitions with the same names will allow fans to engage more easily with both Tours.

“Fans really respond to the unified approach which tennis is uniquely able to provide,” she said. “Adopting this streamlined tournament naming system is 100 per cent about making it easier for WTA fans, corporate partners and the media to engage and follow our sport.”

To check out the new logo and WTA For The Game campaign, click here.