Auckland's international women's tennis tournament has been confirmed on the rejigged WTA circuit for 2009.
The WTA has looked to beef up the women's tour, and there were concerns the ASB Classic might have a difficult time staying on the circuit, given bumped-up financial requirements and concerns overaccess to the game's best players.
However, the WTA, at its board of directors meeting in Miami, has listed 33 tournaments to form a Series B section of the tour, including Auckland and cities as diverse as Acapulco, Bangalore, Palermo and Tashkent.
Twenty tournaments comprise the more lucrative Series A part of the circuit.
Prizemoney at this year's Classic was US$145,000. Next year, the Classic's regulations in terms of availability of leading players, and prizemoney, will remain the same.
For 2009, under what the WTA calls its Roadmap 2010 plan - its scheme to revitalise the women's game by that year - players will be chasing a purse of US$225,000. Auckland Tennis will also pay a one-off franchise fee of US$450,000.
Series B tournaments will be able to attract a top 10 player, something that was off limits this year.
The Classic did have four players in the world top 20, headed by Serb Jelena Jankovic. She won the title and is now world No 9.
