The Hologic WTA Tour's hard-court summer is set to be the biggest and boldest yet, with the Canadian Open, Cincinnati Open and US Open featuring expanded player fields and longer formats.
Here's what you need to know:
When does the summer hard-court season begin?
After a three-and-a-half month tour through Europe and Great Britain for the clay and grass seasons, the WTA Tour returns to North American hard courts starting with the Mubadala Citi D.C. Open. This year, the one-week WTA 500 tournament begins on July 21.
Following Washington D.C. are back-to-back WTA 1000 tournaments in Canada (hosted in Toronto or Montreal in alternating years) and Mason, Ohio. This year, the National Bank Open will be held in Montreal.
How are the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open changing?
Canada and Cincinnati are set to expand the number of extended combined WTA and ATP Tour events to six, joining the BNP Paribas Open (Indian Wells), Miami Open, Madrid Open and Internazionali BNL d'Italia (Rome).
In 2025, the National Bank Open and Cincinnati Open will both grow from 56-player singles fields to 96-player fields. With the expanded fields, both tournaments will shift to an extended format, with Canada being played over 12 days (with a Thursday final) and Cincinnati moving to 14 days (with a Monday final). Together, the two events will be played over three weeks.
Canadian Open: Canada is the sixth WTA 1000 stop of the season and alternates between Montreal and Toronto each year. This year, the women will play in Montreal and the men in Toronto. Main-draw play begins on Sunday, July 27 and ends with a Thursday night final on Aug. 7.
- The tournament will introduce a one-day, 32-player qualifying format on Saturday, July 26.
- Women's quarterfinals will be played across two night sessions on Monday, Aug. 4 and Tuesday, Aug. 5. Semifinals will be a single-night session on Wednesday, Aug. 6. The final will also be played under the lights.
- The doubles field will expand from 28 teams to 32.
- The tournament will revert to a seven-day schedule in Summer Olympic years.
Cincinnati Open: Cincinnati is the seventh stop on the WTA 1000 circuit and is the last Hologic WTA Tour and ATP Tour combined tournament before the US Open.
- With the tournament extending from nine days to 14, the main draw will begin on Thursday, Aug. 7, culminating in a Monday final on Aug. 18.
- Qualifying rounds will be played on Tuesday, Aug. 5 and Wednesday, Aug. 6. The qualifying field will be comprised of 48 players vying for 12 main-draw spots.
- The top 32 entrants will be seeded in the singles draw, and each will receive a first-round bye. The first round will be played on Thursday and Friday, and the seeded players will begin play during the first weekend of play, Aug. 9 and 10.
- Women's doubles will begin on Thursday, Aug. 7.
- The women's singles quarterfinals will be played on Friday, Aug. 15. The women's singles semifinals and doubles final will be played on Sunday, Aug. 17.
- Both men's and women's singles finals will be played on Monday, Aug. 18.
What is changing at the US Open?
The last Grand Slam of the season is set to move to a 15-day tournament, with main-draw singles to begin on Sunday, Aug. 24. Like the Australian Open and French Open, the US Open will now play its first rounds across the first three days of the tournament.
No further adjustments to the singles main-draw schedule after the first round are planned.
