The 2009 season: bigger and better

The 2009 season will have some new changes made to the schedule, and it will also bring stronger rivalries, bigger prize money, and a better schedule for the players.

The changes include:

• Record prize money: For the 2009 season, the total prize money has gone up 40% to $86 million, and it will be equal at the four Grand Slams, four Premier cornerstone events (at Indian Wells, the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, the Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, and the China Open in Beijing), Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships and the year-end Sony Ericsson Championships – Doha 2009

• Bigger matches and better rivalries: The new Premiere events will see the top players facing off against each other more often and in bigger venues, creating a new level of competition and unmissable match-ups more intense than have been seen in years

• An easy-to-follow calendar: The new Roadmap, with its four Premier cornerstone events (at Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid and Beijing), more defined 'swings' in the Premier events, with the 26 Tier I/II events changed to 20 Premier events, and more combined back-to-back events, will make the Tour much easier to track and enjoy

• A new ranking system: Best 16 results are more directly linked to the Tour's top events by awarding of "zero pointers" for any missed commitment tournament, Grand Slam or the Sony Ericsson Championships

• Record investments: The 2009 season will see $710 million in stadium facility investments, and $84 million in year-end Sony Ericsson Championships deals in Doha 2008-2010 and Istanbul 2011-2013

• 30% increase in off-season (7 to 9 weeks, with season to end in October)

"We're constantly thinking with them about ways to be more attractive to our fans and to continue to innovate," said Larry Scott, the CEO of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. "I think we're going to be sitting here at the end of next year, reflecting back on 2009, saying that the formatting of the Tour calendar in 2009 was really a milestone."