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Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) have invited their executives and tournament representatives to the discuss merger option during a two-day summit in London, at the end of September. This is an attempt from the two governing bodies of world tennis to avert a potential takeover of the sport by Saudi Arabia.
The joint summit between ATP and WTA is going ahead, after rumours about the interest from the Middle Eastern country in making itself the hub of tennis. Saudi Arabia has already taken the golfing world by storm in recent times, establishing the LIV Golf, a professional tour for the golfers, which is a direct competitor of PGA Tour.
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In 2020, Roger Federer, the 20-time Grand Slam champion from Switzerland, took to his official Twitter account, questioning whether ATP and WTA need to be united as one. His tweet read, “Am I the only one thinking that now is the time for men’s and women’s tennis to be united and come together as one?”
The male tennis players weren’t quite as supportive of the idea from the tennis legend, with Nick Kyrgios answering “Yes.” But, Billie Jean King, the founder of WTA, was certainly on board with Roger Federer, while responding, “I agree and have been saying so since the early 1970s. One voice, women and men together, has long been my vision for tennis. The WTA on its own was always Plan B. I’m glad we are on the same page. Let’s make it happen.”
Meanwhile, apart from the concerns posed by Saudi Arabia, the creation of Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA), a rival player union, by the 23-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic and Vasel Pospisil four years ago, is increasing its influence on the sport too. This has led to tennis administrators holding one meeting after another, during the first week of the ongoing US Open in New York, as per the report in the Telegraph.
