'Knowing Roger Federer, it’s not a surprise to me', says CEO

With the 2021 season still in limbo and a calendar that still does not see the green light as of December 4th due to the complicated situation linked to the Australian Open, one of the few certainties of contemporary tennis is that the pandemic caused by covid-19 will force the sport to do without its fans (or at least most) for a long time to come. Speaking is Steve Simon, CEO of the WTA, who also in light of the various changes in the women's association these days is busy with various media for exclusive interviews. Roger Federer had posted a tweet back in April suggesting that the ATP and WTA tours should merge. WTA CEO Steve Simon thinks a merger will help in the long run, and he revealed that several women's players want it too.

Steve Simon on Roger Federer's proposal

“Well, knowing Roger Federer, it’s not a surprise to me because I think Roger Federer always looks at the bigger picture of things," Steve Simon said. "I can share that we have athletes that would feel the same way. If you talked to Serena (Williams) or Venus (Williams) or any of them, you would hear some similar comments and our Player Council would love to see us working together, too. There’s obviously challenges and a lot of business issues that make it challenging at times to get it across," he added. "But I think the more that we do it and the more we keep pushing that direction, it clearly is the right thing to do. It (the idea of a merger) is something that we’ve talked about many, many times. I think no one was ready for it (Roger Federer's tweet) or expecting it at the time. But it shows that Roger Federer does think independently and on his own, which I think we all respect. And, you know, it created conversation. I think that’s the best way that you can describe it and where it went." When asked about the PTPA, Steve Simon replied that the WTA has not had any direct interaction with the Djokovic-led group so far. “We haven’t had much interaction – we haven’t had any with the PTPA, that’s been a men’s-driven initiative," Simon said. "I know they’ve spoken to many of our players and we certainly haven’t gotten in the way of anybody speaking to anybody. That’s fine. We have just focused on what we do and we have worked very, very hard. I think it really came out in 2020 that the players on our side believe that we do have good communication with them and that their voice is heard. Doesn’t mean they’re all happy, of course. We have tournaments that’ll be happy and unhappy, players that’ll be happy and unhappy. But I think overall they do believe that we do have a good lines of communication with them and that their voice is heard. If they make a decision to join the PTPA and do that, we will deal with that, as we need to, when and if that comes. But that’s upon them. Those are their decisions to make," Simon added.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/36Om3n5