Melbourne, Australia, 24 October 2012 | Tennis Australia

The Australian Ranking Tournament calendar for the first half of 2013 has been released, comprising Australian Money Tournaments and Optus Junior Tour events.

A list of tournaments for the second half of 2013 will be released next March as part of the calendar, which also outlines information on the Australian Pro Tour and Australian and Oceania Junior ITF events.

An estimated 182 Australian Money Tournaments (AMT) – offering a total prizepool of $823,000 – and 198 Optus Junior Tour (OJT) tournaments will be staged across the country during the next 12 months.

2013 Australian Ranking Tournament calendar

Confirmed for the first six months of next year will be 13 Pro Tour events – including two men’s ATP Challenger events – offering the opportunity for Australian players to earn ATP and WTA ranking points on home soil and a share of US$305,000 in prizemoney.

“The target for 2013 will be to hold close to 30 Pro Tour events in Australia, which together with the Asia/Pacific Tennis League in November this year and the playoffs in January offering close to $340,000 in prizemoney and player payments, there will be close to $1,700,000 being offered at Australian tournaments and competitions over the next 14 months,” said Francis Soyer, Tennis Australia’s tournaments coordinator.

The AMT and OJT tournaments went through a significant format change in 2012, with athletes separated into main draw and qualifying events rather than the traditional format of starting all athletes in the same position.

This will continue for the Platinum and Gold level events in 2013, but tournaments with a Silver, Bronze or White status will be offered the opportunity to return to a traditional format.

“The majority of feedback that was received from all stakeholders regarding the change in format this year was overwhelmingly positive with many agreeing with the philosophy to improve the quality of competitive opportunities that is currently being offered to our up-and-coming athletes,” Soyer said.

The Australian Ranking tournament circuit starts on 1 January, with many of the January tournaments opening their entries in November via http://www.tennis.com.au/tournaments.

For more information about the Australian Ranking tournament circuit, you can refer to tournament regulation information – the 2013 tournament regulations will be released later this year – or you can email the Tournaments & Competitions department on [email protected].