São Paulo Hosts South America's First WTA Coaches Workshop in Historic Debut
More than 60 tennis coaches gathered in São Paulo last month for a first in South American tennis: an official WTA Coaches Workshop, held during the 2026 SP Open.
The WTA, the Confederação Brasileira de Tênis (Brazilian Tennis Federation) and the tournament partnered to stage the event, which ran across two separate two-day sessions in mid-September. Organizers called it a milestone for coach development in the region.
From September 12-13, the workshop opened to local high-performance coaches, drawing more than 30 participants. From September 14-15, a second session focused specifically on women coaches, with another 30 taking part. That second group was organized alongside the federation's program to develop women coaches, one of its flagship initiatives.
Luiz Carvalho and Thomaz Costa, tournament directors of the SP Open, supported the effort. On the federation side, Luiz Peniza — a WTA Registered Coach, Brazilian Billie Jean King Cup captain and coordinator of the Brazilian Tennis Development Program — and Caio Cortela of the federation's Department of Coach Education played key roles in organizing the workshops.
"It is always important to have opportunities for coaches -- both women and men -- to exchange ideas and information," Peniza said. "I believe that the partnership between the WTA, CBT and SP Open enhances the quality of the information and, consequently, the level of understanding and absorption of that information by coaches."
Participants heard from a range of speakers. From the WTA, Marita Marshall (physio), Randi Jackson (WTA Mental Health) and Vivian Segnini (player relations, WTA Coach Program and Coach Inclusion Program) shared insights from their disciplines. Pol Toledo, coach of WTA Tour player Paula Badosa, delivered an on-court presentation. Additional speakers included Luiz Peniza, Andre Hoffman, Danilo Ferraz, Carla Tiene, Vinicius de Oliveira, Fernanda Ferreira and Renata Diez.
The workshop comes as the WTA and national federations push to expand coaching education beyond traditional strongholds in Europe and North America. Whether São Paulo becomes a recurring stop on the WTA's coach development calendar has not yet been announced.
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