The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour (known between 2003 and 2012 as the FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour for sponsorship reasons[5]) was the worldwide professional beach volleyball tour for both men and women organized by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. The World Tour was introduced 1989 for men and in 1992 for women being held yearly since then until 2021 when it was replaced by the new Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour.
Several tournaments were staged throughout the year. All athletes who competed in the qualifying and main draws of the tournaments earned points in the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Rankings, and after the last stage the pair that accumulated the most points during the year was declared the champion of the World Tour (only points from 75% of the tournaments in the season were considered for the ranking). Winning the World Tour was considered to be one of the highest honours in international beach volleyball, being surpassed only by the World Championships, and the Beach Volleyball tournament at the Summer Olympic Games. The Tour was historically dominated by Brazilian teams.
History
The international professional tour was originally known as the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Series, and began in 1989 for men and 1992 for women. It was rebranded as the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour in 1997.[6] The World Tour was previously accompanied by FIVB Challenger and Satellite events, which served as a developmental circuit for up-and-coming players.[7] The FIVB handed over the organizing of Challenger and Satellite events to the continental confederations in 2009.[8]
Tournaments in the World Tour were previously categorized as either Grand Slams, Majors or Opens. This was replaced by the star rating structure in 2017.[9]
FIVB established the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour in October 2021 to replace the World Tour, starting with the inaugural 2022 edition.[10]
Tournament categories
The star ranking tournament structure was introduced in 2017.[11] World Tour tournaments were ranked from 1 to 5 stars, with 5-star tournaments offering the most prize money. The 2018 World Tour had 47 international tournaments with a total prize purse of over US$7 million.[12] Competing in the World Tour as well as other FIVB-recognized tournaments such as the Summer Olympics allowed players to earn FIVB Ranking Points, with higher-star events being worth more points.[13] The World Tour concluded with the World Tour Finals at the end of each season.[13] A new tournament classification was introduced in 2022.
| Tournaments
|
1989-1996
|
1997-2014
|
2015−'16
|
2017−'21
|
2022−
|
| Tiers
|
0
|
—
|
— |
World Tour Finals
|
| I
|
Opens
|
Grand Slam
|
Grand Slam/Major Series |
5-star/Major Series |
Elite 16
|
| II
|
|
Opens |
4-star tournament |
Challenger
|
| III
|
|
Challengers |
3-star tournament |
Futures
|
| IV
|
|
Satellites |
2-star tournament |
—
|
| V
|
|
— |
1-star tournament |
—
|
Prize money (2023 season)
| Event category
|
Prize money
(per gender)
|
| World Tour Finals |
US$800,000
|
| World Championships |
US$500,000
|
| Elite 16 |
US$150,000
|
| Challenger |
US$75,000
|
| Futures |
US$5,000
|
FIVB World Tour Finals
The Tour Finals were the season-ending championships of the FIVB World Tour and featured only the top performing teams during the regular season. The tournament was first held in 2015.
Men's Results
| Tournament
|
Champions
|
Runners-up
|
Third place
|
Fourth place
|
2015 Swatch FIVB World Tour Finals[17]
Fort Lauderdale, United States
29 September – 4 October 2015 |
 Alison Cerutti (BRA)
Bruno Oscar Schmidt (BRA)
21–13, 21–15 |
 Phil Dalhausser (USA)
Nicholas Lucena (USA) |
Evandro Oliveira (BRA)
Pedro Solberg Salgado (BRA)
21–19, 21–14 |
 Alexander Brouwer (NED)
Robert Meeuwsen (NED)
|
2016 Swatch FIVB World Tour Finals[18]
Toronto, Canada
13–18 September 2016 |
Alison Cerutti (BRA)
Bruno Oscar Schmidt (BRA)
21–19, 21–19 |
Evandro Oliveira (BRA)
Pedro Solberg Salgado (BRA) |
Tri Bourne (USA)
John Hyden (USA)
21–14, 22–20 |
 Ben Saxton (CAN)
Chaim Schalk (CAN)
|
2017 Swatch FIVB World Tour Finals[19]
Hamburg, Germany
US$400,000
22–27 August 2017 |
Phil Dalhausser (USA)
Nick Lucena (USA)
21–15, 21–13 |
Evandro Oliveira (BRA)
André Stein (BRA) |
 Daniele Lupo (ITA)
Paolo Nicolai (ITA)
21–17, 19–21, 15–12 |
 Piotr Kantor (POL)
Bartosz Łosiak (POL)
|
2018 FIVB World Tour Finals[20]
Hamburg, Germany
US$400,000
14–19 August 2018 |
 Anders Mol (NOR)
Christian Sørum (NOR)
21–19, 21–17 |
Michał Bryl (POL)
Grzegorz Fijałek (POL) |
Piotr Kantor (POL)
Bartosz Łosiak (POL)
19–21, 21–15, 15–13 |
 Julius Thole (GER)
Clemens Wickler (GER)
|
2019 FIVB World Tour Finals[21]
Rome, Italy
US$300,000
28 August – 8 September 2019 |
 Viacheslav Krasilnikov (RUS)
Oleg Stoyanovskiy (RUS)
21–16, 21–16
|
Julius Thole (GER)
Clemens Wickler (GER)
|
Anders Mol (NOR)
Christian Sørum (NOR)
21–16, 21–15 |
Taylor Crabb (USA)
Jake Gibb (USA)
|
2021 FIVB World Tour Finals[22]
Cagliari, Italy
US$300,000
6—10 October 2021 |
Anders Mol (NOR)
Christian Sørum (NOR)
22–20, 23–21
|
 Ondřej Perušič (CZE)
David Schweiner (CZE)
|
Steven van de Velde (NED)
Christiaan Varenhorst (NED)
23–21, 21–17 |
Paolo Nicolai (ITA)
Daniele Lupo (ITA)
|
Women's Results
| Tournament
|
Champions
|
Runners-up
|
Third place
|
Fourth place
|
2015 Swatch FIVB World Tour Finals[23]
Fort Lauderdale, United States
29 September – 4 October 2015 |
Talita Antunes (BRA)
Larissa França (BRA)
21–17, 21–18 |
Laura Ludwig (GER)
Kira Walkenhorst (GER) |
Ágatha Bednarczuk (BRA)
Bárbara Seixas (BRA)
22–20, 14–21, 15–10 |
Heather Bansley (CAN)
Sarah Pavan (CAN)
|
2016 Swatch FIVB World Tour Finals[24]
Toronto, Canada
13–18 September 2016 |
Laura Ludwig (GER)
Kira Walkenhorst (GER)
21–18, 21–16 |
 Joana Heidrich (SUI)
Nadine Zumkehr (SUI) |
Isabelle Forrer (SUI)
Anouk Vergé-Dépré (SUI)
21–19, 21–18 |
Talita Antunes (BRA)
Larissa França (BRA)
|
2017 Swatch FIVB World Tour Finals[25]
Hamburg, Germany
US$400,000
22–27 August 2017 |
Laura Ludwig (GER)
Kira Walkenhorst (GER)
21–17, 19–21, 15–10 |
Ágatha Bednarczuk (BRA)
Eduarda Lisboa (BRA) |
Talita Antunes (BRA)
Larissa França (BRA)
21–17, 21–19 |
Melissa Humana-Paredes (CAN)
Sarah Pavan (CAN)
|
2018 FIVB World Tour Finals[26]
Hamburg, Germany
US$400,000
14–19 August 2018 |
Ágatha Bednarczuk (BRA)
Eduarda Lisboa (BRA)
21–15, 21–19 |
Barbora Hermannová (CZE)
Markéta Sluková (CZE) |
 Mariafe Artacho del Solar (AUS)
Taliqua Clancy (AUS)
21–15, 19–21, 15–8 |
Maria Elisa Antonelli (BRA)
Carolina Solberg Salgado (BRA)
|
2019 FIVB World Tour Finals[27]
Rome, Italy
US$300,000
28 August – 8 September 2019 |
Margareta Kozuch (GER)
Laura Ludwig (GER)
21–19, 21–17 |
Ágatha Bednarczuk (BRA)
Eduarda Lisboa (BRA) |
Rebecca Cavalcante (BRA)
Ana Patrícia Ramos (BRA)
19–21, 21–18, 16–14 |
Joana Heidrich (SUI)
Anouk Vergé-Dépré (SUI)
|
2021 FIVB World Tour Finals[28]
Cagliari, Italy
US$300,000
6—10 October 2021 |
Julia Sude (GER)
Karla Borger (GER)
21–13, 23–21
|
Sarah Pavan (CAN)
Melissa Humana-Paredes (CAN)
|
April Ross (USA)
Alix Klineman (USA)
21–8, 21–17
|
Nadezda Makroguzova (RUS)
Svetlana Kholomina (RUS)
|
Cherif Samba – Ahmed Tijan (2021)
