WTA forms special council to overhaul congested calendar

The WTA has launched a new Tour Architecture Council to recommend sweeping changes to women's tennis, WTA chair Valerie Camillo announced on Tuesday amid widespread concerns that the current calendar is unsustainable for players.

Camillo said world number five Jessica Pegula will chair the representative working group, which aims to deliver actionable recommendations that could be implemented as soon as 2027.

Camillo said she established the council after listening to feedback from across the tour, which recently saw a spate of withdrawals from the Dubai Tennis Championships due to workload concerns and injuries.

"There has been a clear sentiment across the Tour that the current calendar does not feel sustainable for players," Camillo wrote in a letter to players and tournament partners.

"It's important we take a fresh, collaborative look at how to best preserve the high-quality competition that builds value for tournaments.

"The Council will focus first on areas where the WTA has direct authority to drive change, while also identifying longer-term opportunities that will require broader coordination across the sport," she added.

The council includes players, leaders from premier tournaments, WTA senior leadership and experts in tour operations and calendar planning.

Seven lucky losers advanced in Dubai after the withdrawals and world number four Coco Gauff said burnout was a cause for concern.

"For this point in the schedule, it's hard to play all the tournaments now that they're two weeks," Gauff told reporters in Dubai.

"The ask of players is becoming more and more and more."