Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license.
Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat.
We can research this topic together.
The WTA Tour underwent a slight change in the classification of tournaments in 2021, which were reorganized on with similar nomenclature to that used on ATP Tour:
Mandatory: Five combined tournaments with male professional players with prize money ranging from US$6.5 million to US$8.3 million. These tournaments are held in Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Rome and Beijing. The Beijing tournament was not held in 2021 and 2022 due to the Covid-19 Pandemic and returned in 2023.
Non-mandatory: Four events in Doha/Dubai, Montreal/Toronto, Cincinnati, and Wuhan with prize money ranging from US$2.3 million to US$2.7 million. From 2020 to 2023, the tournament in Wuhan was suspended due to Covid–19 Pandemic. In 2022 and 2023, a new WTA 1000 tournament was held in Guadalajara as a replacement for Wuhan. From 2021-2023, Doha and Dubai switched off, with one being a WTA 1000 event and the other being a WTA 500 event.
WTA 500 tournaments: 12 events with prize money from US$700,000 to US$900,000.
Premier Mandatory: Four combined tournaments with male professional players, with US$6.5 million in equal prize money for men and women (increased from $4.5 million in 2013). These tournaments are held in Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, and Beijing.
The WTA rankings are based on a rolling 52-week, cumulative system. A player's ranking is determined by her results at a maximum of 18 tournaments for singles and 12 for doubles. Points are awarded based on how far a player advances in a tournament. The basis for calculating a player's ranking are those tournaments that yield the highest ranking points during the rolling 52-week period. The period must include:
the four Grand Slams
six WTA 1000 Mandatory combined/virtually combined tournaments
one WTA 1000 Mandatory (WTA-only) tournament
the best of seven results from all WTA 1000 Mandatory, WTA 500, WTA 250, and WTA 125 Tournaments and ITF W15+ events
the WTA Finals as a bonus tournament if the player attended
(+40 per round robin match; +80 per round robin win)
WTA 500 (48S, 24Q)
500
325
195
108
60
32
1
25
13
1
WTA 500 (30/28S, 24/16Q)
500
325
195
108
60
1
25
18
13
1
WTA 500 (24D)
500
325
195
108
60
1
WTA 500 (16D)
500
325
195
108
1
WTA 250 (32S, 24/16Q)
250
163
98
54
30
1
18
12
1
WTA 250 (16D)
250
163
98
54
1
WTA 125 (32S, 16Q)
125
81
49
27
15
1
6
4
1
WTA 125 (32S, 8Q)
125
81
49
27
15
1
6
1
WTA 125 (16D)
125
81
49
27
1
WTA 125 (8D)
125
81
49
1
W100 (48S, 32/24Q)
100
65
39
21
12
7
1
5
3
W100 (32S, 32Q)
100
65
39
21
12
1
5
3
W100 (16D)
100
65
39
21
1
W75 (48S, 32/24Q)
75
49
29
16
9
5
1
3
2
W75 (32S, 32Q)
75
49
29
16
9
1
3
2
W75 (16D)
75
49
29
16
1
W50 (48S, 32/24Q)
50
33
20
11
6
3
1
2
1
W50 (32S, 32Q)
50
33
20
11
6
1
2
1
W50 (16D)
50
33
20
11
1
W35 (48S, 32/24Q)
35
23
14
8
4
2
1
1
W35 (32S, 64/48/32/24Q)
35
23
14
8
4
1
1
W35 (16D)
35
23
14
8
1
W15 (32S, 64/48/32/24Q)
15
10
6
3
1
W15 (16D)
15
10
6
3
S = singles players, D = doubles teams, Q = qualification players.
* Assumes undefeated round robin match record.
Note that if a player or team receives one or more byes and then loses their first match of the tournament, they will only receive points for the first round of that tournament. For example, if a player receives a bye in R64 and then loses her match in R32, she will only receive points for R64 despite having advanced (via bye) to R32. Similarly, if a player or team withdraws from their first match after receiving a bye, they will not be awarded any points for that tournament.
In ITF tournaments, the main draw is normally 32 for singles and 16 for doubles. Losers in the first round of doubles will receive points equal to that shown in the R32 column above. For subsequent rounds (quarter-finals onwards) the points are the same as for singles.