Merger of men’s and women’s tours is welcomed but warning over equal pay
● WTA chief says eliminating financial disparity is long-term goal for the sport
WTA chief Steve Simon supports the concept of a merger with the men’s ATP Tour but has warned that financial disparity would remain, at least initially.
Both the WTA and ATP Tours were suspended in March because of the coronavirus pandemic and will not resume until mid-july at the earliest.
Roger Federer ignited calls for the two ruling bodies “to be united and come together as one” in a tweet last month, an idea which has been publicly welcomed by Simon and ATP Tour chairman Andrea Gaudenzi.
But Simon, the WTA chairman and chief executive, would not expect equal prize money to follow immediately.
“You certainly can’t go in with those expectations that (financial equality) is immediately there. I think it’s a longterm goal,” said Simon.
“But I think that, by coming together, we are presenting the sport in a way that our fans and our partners and the marketplace will embrace.
“Also, if we were able to get to that stage (of a single merged body), you’d still have a men’s calendar, you’d still have a women’s calendar, you’d still have combined events.
“Not every facility can accommodate a combined field. But over time, if you’re one organisation, you have a lot better chance to resolve.”
Simon believes there are obvious benefits to a potential merger.
“It would keep us from competing against each other, everybody loses with that,” he added in an interview with the Daily Telegraph. “A merger is a long and winding road. But you would like to think that everybody should be treated equal.” Male and female competitors receive the same level of prize money at Wimbledon, and have done since 2007.
Meanwhile, the head of the Australian Open says various contingency plans are being considered for the tournament which is scheduled for January 2021.
The plans include scrapping it altogether because of the coronavirus pandemic or allowing just spectators from the host country.
Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley said that the “worst-case scenario” is no tournament at all next year.
Tiley, the Australian Open’s tournament director, said organisers have “modelled everything”.
“Our best-case scenario at this point is having an AO with players that we can get in here with quarantining techniques and Australian-only fans,” he said.
More than 30 sanctioned tennis tournaments have been postponed or cancelled so far because of the Covid-19 outbreak. The French Open was moved from May to September and Wimbledon was called off entirely for the first time in 75 years.
A decision on this year’s US Open is expected in June.