The WTA announced a rankings modification with the goal of returning to a traditional 52-week system by March of 2022. The modifications aim to provide a transition between a challenging stretch that included a period of suspended play and travel restrictions, while still protecting the integrity of the rankings system.
After the US Open, 2019 WTA tournament points will continue to drop as follows for the remainder of the year:
--Points earned in 2019 will continue to drop after being on the rankings for 104 weeks, even if the tournament was unable to operate.
--As the 2019 points from three events (2019 Indian Wells, Rabat and ‘s-Hertogenbosch) did not drop after 104 weeks, these 2019 points will drop off on the Nov. 8, 2021 ranking.
--The January, February and March event points under the “Better of 2020/2021 points” system will drop when the tournament takes place in 2022 or after 52 weeks from the 2021 event, whichever is earlier. Tournaments not under the “Better of” system will drop after 52 weeks.
The 2021 year-end ranking will not include any 2019 points from tour-level 250 events and higher. The WTA 125 events that occurred in the offseason in 2019 – Houston, Taipei, Limoges – will remain on for the full 104 weeks as all other tournaments.
Moving forward, the ranking system at the tour level will return to the traditional 52-week model in March 2022.