(Reuters) – The WTA on Tuesday released its provisional 2023 tournament calendar up to the U.S. Open starting in August, adding two new WTA 250 hardcourt tournaments ahead of Indian Wells.
The governing body of the women’s tour scheduled the new tournaments in Austin, Texas and Merida, Mexico in February.
“As the WTA celebrates its 50th anniversary, the 2023 calendar showcases the incredible breadth and reach of women’s tennis,” WTA chairman Steve Simon said in a statement.
“We are excited and proud to showcase our amazing events to our global audience of over 900 million fans, with tournaments in six continents and over 20 countries from January to early September.”
The season will begin with a new mixed-sex $15 million tournament featuring teams from 18 nations playing matches across three Australian cities.
An updated calendar is expected to be released later this year with clarity on tournaments returning to China.
The country did not host a tournament in 2022 after the WTA Tour suspended events over the Peng Shuai issue.
Peng had accused Chinese former Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault last year in a post on social media that was soon removed from the country’s internet. She later denied having made the accusation.
Peng’s post led the WTA to suspend tournaments in China and caused an international outcry over her safety.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
