São Paulo makes history with South America's first-ever WTA Coaches Workshop

History was made in São Paulo last month at the 2026 SP Open in Brazil.

The WTA, Confederação Brasileira de Tênis (Brazilian Tennis Federation) and the tournament joined forces to host the first-ever WTA Coaches Workshop in South America. Regional coaches, from Brazil, networked in the industry and gained valuable skills and knowledge to succeed in their future careers. 

The workshops were made possible with the support of tournament directors, Luiz Carvalho and Thomaz Costa.

From the federation side, Luiz Peniza (WTA Registered Coach, Brazilian Billie Jean King Cup Captain, and Coordinator of the Brazilian Tennis Development Program) and Caio Cortela (Brazilian Tennis Federation's Department of Coach Education and Brazilian Tennis Development Program) played a key role in organizing the event and bringing the workshops to life.

"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."

The workshops were divided into two parts, each consisting of two-day periods. On September 12-13, the coaches workshop was open to a wide-range of local, high-performance coaches -- both men and women -- that saw more than 30 attend.

Then, from September 14-15, the workshops focused specifically on women coaches, with another 30 participating. This portion of the workshop was coordinated in conjunction with the Brazilian federation's program to develop women coaches in the region, one of its main initiatives. 

Participants had the opportunity to learn from and hear the experiences of several speakers. From the WTA, Marita Marshall (physio), Randi Jackson (WTA Mental Health), and Vivian Segnini (player relations, WTA Coach Program and Coach Inclusion Program) all shared insight from their respective disciplines. Pol Toledo, coach of the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz' Paula Badosa, delivered an on-court presentation.

Additional speakers included Luiz Peniza, Andre Hoffman, Danilo Ferraz, Danilo Ferraz, Carla Tiene, Vinicius de Oliveira, Fernanda Ferreira and Renata Diez.

One of the highlights of the workshop was the presence of two of the most accomplished tennis players in Brazil's history. Niége Dias, former World No. 31 in singles and two-time WTA title winner WTA titles, and Silvana Campos, who represented Brazil at the 1983 Pan American Games and the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, also interacted with attendees.

To cap off the four-day coaches conference, the WTA Americas Coach Inclusion Program celebrated the graduation of three Brazilian coaches, who were part of the 2025-26 cohort.

While in São Paulo, with support from the SP Open, the South American coaches completed their on-site mentoring with tour coaches Emiliano Redondi, coach of Nadia Podoroska; Bastien Fazincani, coach of Darja Semenistaja; and Toledo, coach of Badosa. The experience was part of an excellent summer for the cohort -- check out the full highlights here.