WTA Tennis Tournaments - April 2012

After a couple of million dollar tournaments in the United States for the month of March, the WTA calendar shifts to Europe for the start of the clay season. While seven of the tournaments starting this April will be played in the three continents of North America, Africa and Europe, it’s Europe which will be hosting five tournaments in Spain, Denmark, Germany, Portugal and Hungary.

The two biggest WTA tennis tournaments will be premier-level ones held in the green clay of Charleston, South Carolina and the indoors red clay of Stuttgart, Germany. The first tournament of the month will be the Family Circle Cup in Charleston. The 2012 player field is laden with talent that includes world #4 Agnieszka Radwanska, US Open champion Sam Stosur, former #1 player Jelena Jankovic, and top American WTA stars Serena and Venus Williams.

Previous winners of the Charleston tournament include retired tennis stars Martina Hingis, Jennifer Capriati, Justine Henin and current players Serena Williams (2008), Venus Williams (2004), Jelena Jankovic (2007), Samantha Stosur (2010), Sabine Lisicki (2009), and Caroline Wozniacki (2011). Despite being defending champion, Wozniacki will not be joining the 2012 Charleston tennis tournament.

The other major April WTA tournament will be the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany. It will start on the third week of April. The 2012 entry list feature majority of the WTA top ten players led by world #1 Victoria Azarenka and #2 Maria Sharapova. A list of German players in the top ten are also entered including Andrea Petkovic, Sabine Lisicki, Julia Gorges, and Angelique Kerber.

The Stuttgart tennis tournament is a favorite preparation tournament of the top WTA players for the French Open, the second Grand Slam in the tennis calendar. French Open champions Justine Henin, Mary Pierce, Iva Majoli and Svetlana Kuznetsova have been champions in this event. German player Gorges is the 2011 champion when she upset then world #1 Wozniacki in the finals.

Below is a list of WTA tennis tournaments for April 2012:

WTA Tennis Tournament Start Date: 04/02/2012
Charleston, SC-USA: Family Circle Cup
Premier
Outdoors Green Clay
Total Prize MOney = $740,000

WTA Tennis Tournament Start Date: 04/09/2012
Barcelona, Spain: Barcelona Ladies Open
International
Outdoors Red Clay
Total Prize Money = $220,000

WTA Tennis Tournament Start Date: 04/09/2012
Copenhagen, Denmark: e-Boks Open
International
Indoors Hard
Total Prize Money = $220,000

WTA Tennis Tournament Start Date: 04/23/2012
Stuttgart, Germany: Porsche Tennis Grand Prix
Premier
Indoors Red Clay
Total Prize Money = $740,000

WTA Tennis Tournament Start Date: 04/23/2012
Fès, Morocco: Grand Prix de SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem
International
Outdoors Red Clay
Total Prize Money = $220,000

WTA Tennis Tournament Start Date: 04/30/2012
Estoril, Portugal: Estoril Open
International
Outdoors Red Clay
Total Prize Money = $220,000

WTA Tennis Tournament Start Date: 04/30/2012
Budapest, Hungary: Budapest Grand Prix
International
Outdoors Red Clay
Total Prize Money = $220,000