The WTA announced on 1 October that every combined WTA 1000 tournament will award equal prize money to men and women from 2027. The Italian Open in Rome, the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Open, the last three combined events with a gap, will now pay women the same as men, matching Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Beijing and the four Grand Slams.
The gap being closed is material. At this years Italian Open, the mens draw offered $9.6 million against $8.3 million for women, despite organisers having previously pledged parity from 2025. Rome is also a symbolic venue: Billie Jean King received $600 for winning the 1970 title against $3,500 for the mens champion, a disparity that helped prompt the creation of the womens tour. Tour finances have been reinforced since 2024 by a multi-year partnership with Saudi Arabias Public Investment Fund, which holds naming rights to the rankings, and by the WTA Finals in Riyadh, which will move to Charlotte for 2027-29. The announcement delivers the first major checkpoint of the roadmap the WTA set out in 2023, under which it committed to equal pay at combined 1000 and 500 events by 2027 and at standalone events by 2033. WTA chair Valerie Camillo called it a major milestone. The tour also confirmed calendar changes for 2027, cutting mandatory WTA 500 events for top-50 players from six to four, reducing base commitments to 14 tour events plus the Slams, and expanding the WTA 250 in Manila on the back of interest in Alex Eala.
The strategic significance lies in where the money comes from. Combined events are effectively joint ventures with the ATP and with tournament owners, and parity there requires owners to accept that the womens draw justifies equal investment on the basis of its media and sponsorship value. That shifts the WTAs argument from equity to economics: equal prize money becomes a statement about the commercial value of its inventory. It also gives the tour a cleaner proposition for brands and broadcasters, which have shown increasing appetite for womens sport and want partners without pay-gap controversies attached.
The pressure now moves to the harder part of the plan. Standalone WTA events depend on smaller budgets and on the tours own media and sponsorship revenue, which is far below that of the mens game. The calendar changes are a pilot for 2027, with decisions on 2028 and beyond to follow, which signals the WTA is balancing player welfare against tournament economics. For the ATP and the Slams, the discussion of a merged or unified tennis product now starts from parity at the top tier. For tournament owners, it raises the cost base, and the bet is that the womens draw will generate the revenue to cover it.
