The WTA has announced that a new grass court tournament will be held in Mallorca, home of the "King of Clay" Rafael Nadal himself, as a warmup to Wimbledon beginning in 2016.

The event will be staged by e|motion management GmbH at the C'an Angeli tennis complex. In 2016, Mallorca will join Birmingham in the second week of the grass court season, resulting in five WTA grass court events in the three-week lead-up to Wimbledon. The third week between Roland Garros and Wimbledon will take effect next year.

e|motion also manages the ATP World Tour 250 event in Stuttgart, which will reportedly also switch to grass courts in 2015.

Subject to change, the grass court calendar for the WTA in 2015 and 2016 now looks like this:

2015
Week of June 8: Nottingham (International) & 's-Hertogenbosch (International)
Week of June 15: Birmingham (Premier)
Week of June 22: Eastbourne (Premier)
Weeks of June 29 & July 6: Wimbledon (Grand Slam)

2016
Week of June 6: Nottingham (International) & 's-Hertogenbosch (International)
Week of June 13: Birmingham (Premier) & Mallorca (International)
Week of June 20: Eastbourne (Premier)
Weeks of June 27 & July 4: Wimbledon (Grand Slam)

On the new event, WTA Chairman and CEO Stacey Allaster said: "With the grass court season set to expand next year, it was important for the WTA to provide players and fans alike with a fresh opportunity to experience the expanded grass court tennis season. Thanks to the cooperation of The All England Lawn Tennis Club, the WTA Board of Directors and e|motion management, the event in Mallorca will strengthen the grass court season leading up to Wimbledon."