ATP and WTA Tours Attainable Merger to Be Mentioned
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ATP and WTA Tours Attainable Merger to Be Mentioned

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ATP and WTA Tours Attainable Merger to Be Mentioned

By Erik Gudris | @ATNTennis | Sunday, September 3, 2023

As the US Open continues, the tennis world can be targeted on a doable merger between the ATP Tour and WTA Tour that shall be mentioned subsequent month.

According to a brand new article from The Telegraph, officers from each excursions will convene subsequent month in London to debate a possible merger as a response to rising curiosity and affect from Saudi Arabia within the sport. ATP Tour Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi and WTA Tour Chief Executive Officer Steve Simon, together with different tour officers, shall be on the assembly.

The assembly will happen as Saudi Arabia’s curiosity in internet hosting extra tournaments and doubtlessly creating its personal tour to rival the ATP Tour and WTA Tour continues, which has created debate amongst officers and gamers. Both excursions are hoping to keep away from the controversy that the current LIV Golf tour has endured, additionally backed by Saudi pursuits.

Saudi Arabian organizers lately introduced that the Next Gen ATP Finals can be hosted in Jeddah as a part of a brand new five-year deal beginning in 2023.


Any merger between the ATP Tour and WTA Tour, wouldn’t occur in a single day and would require approval from a number of events concerned. This is because of every tour having its personal separate sponsors and TV licensing agreements.

The 4 main tournaments, together with the US Open, would stay separate from any merger.

Roger Federer, three years in the past, publicly stated he thought it was time for each excursions to merge. Both present and former gamers have weighed in on the rising affect of Saudi Arabia from either side.

All-time nice John McEnroe is in opposition to any Saudi Arabian funding and lately stated earlier than the US Open, saying “(It’s) 

comical that it is even being introduced up proper now” given “the debacle you’re watching in golf.”

Ons Jabeur of Tunisia lately stated she welcomes the chance.

“You know, as an Arab player, I’m very excited to be there,” Jabeur advised media at her US Open pre-tournament presser. “I am someone pushing for a change, pushing to give more and more opportunities, especially for women.

Tennis icon and 18-time Grand Slam champion Chris Evert however opposes any change calling it “sports-washing”, particularly given Saudi Arabia’s combined file on human rights.

“I would prefer not to go to Saudi Arabia to play the WTA Finals,” Evert stated. “Not that I’m going to go play, but for me, I would prefer the WTA not go to Saudi Arabia. “Obviously they have the human rights issues and everything, just the way they treat women. I would be against it. But I don’t have a vote.”

Nick Kyrgios lately posted on Twitter his assist of Saudia Arabia investing extra within the ATP Tour sooner or later.


According to the Daily Mail UK, Saudi Arabia can be within the working to probably host this 12 months’s WTA Finals, which remains to be on the lookout for a number metropolis. Organizers have supplied to considerably enhance the prize cash to over $12 million whole. Other cities within the working for the occasion, to be determined subsequent week, embody Washington, DC, Prague, and Monterrey.

Photo credit score: Nike

Content Source: www.tennisnow.com