WTA Qatar Open
The Qatar Open, currently sponsored by TotalEnergies and called the "Qatar TotalEnergies Open", is a professional tennis WTA [1000 tournament] held in Doha, Qatar. Held since 2001, this WTA Tour event was a Tier I-tournament in 2008, and was played on outdoor hardcourts. After a two-year break the tournament returned in 2011 and is held at the Khalifa International Tennis and [Squash Complex].
History
The first tournament was held in 2001 as Qatar Total FinaElf Open for the prize money of $170,000, as a Tier III tournament. In 2004, the tournament got Tier II category because of an increase in prize money to $585,000, and in 2007 to $600,000. For the 2008 season, which was the last season it was held, the tournament became Tier I for the prize money of $2,500,000. The event then took a two-year break due to the venue hosting the WTA Tour Championship, thus not being played in 2009 or 2010. The tournament returned in 2011 as a Premier Event with the prize money of $721,000 and a 32-competitor singles draw. The tournament received Premier 5 status from 2012 to 2014, but in the 2015 WTA Season the tournament was back to a Premier event. It then switched back to being a Premier 5 tournament in 2016, when the Dubai Tennis Championships was downgraded to Premier. From then, the two tournaments alternated between Premier 5 and Premier status every year until 2024, when both events were held as WTA 1000 events.The event is held at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex which currently has a capacity of 6,911. It was originally much smaller but had a makeover in 2008. Its prize money as of 2016 was $2,517,250 and the tournament director is Saad Al Mohannadi.