Stars rally behind Roger's merger call

LONDON • WTA Tour founder Billie Jean King and Rafael Nadal yesterday led a wave of support for Roger Federer's suggestion that "now is the time" to merge the men's and women's tennis governing bodies.

The sport is at a standstill because of the coronavirus pandemic, with both the ATP and WTA tours not scheduled to resume before mid-July.

Given its international nature, tennis has been particularly hard hit by the Covid-19 outbreak, with the entire clay-court and grass-court seasons in ruins.

Wimbledon was axed for the first time since World War II and the French Open has been delayed until September.

The financial impact on lower-tier players has also been profound and well documented, with many struggling to even pay basic bills.

Record 20-time Grand Slam champion Federer, however, feels a merger could help the sport emerge from the crisis in better shape, tweeting it "probably should have happened a long time ago".

He added: "These are tough times in every sport and we can come out of this with two weakened bodies or one stronger body.

"It's too confusing for the fans when there are different ranking systems, different logos, different websites, different tournament categories."

The Swiss great's idea for one "stronger body" received an enthusiastic response from King, world No. 2 Nadal and leading women's players such as Wimbledon champion Simona Halep, Petra Kvitova and Garbine Muguruza.

Posing a question to his 12.7 million Twitter followers, Federer said on Wednesday night: "Just wondering, am I the only one thinking now is the time for men's and women's tennis to be united and come together as one?"

Trailblazer King, who was instrumental in establishing the WTA in 1973, responded to his tweet, saying that a merger "has long been my vision for tennis".

"I agree, and have been saying so since the early 1970s.

"One voice, women and men together. Let's make it happen," the 12-time Grand Slam singles winner said.

Nadal, who has clinched 19 Slams, concurred, tweeting: "I completely agree that it would be great to get out of this world crisis with the union of men's and women's tennis in only one organisation."

Halep also tweeted Federer was "not the only one" thinking along those lines, while Muguruza said: "Yes, (it) would be a good idea."

Two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova posted: "Hands up if you agree with Roger Federer", alongside a raised-hand emoji.

But the world No. 4's proposal is not new and has been floated many times before.

There are many obstacles to a possible merger, which, if at all viable would be a long-term objective that will take years to fulfil.

The ATP has always generated more revenue than its WTA counterpart, leading to a general reluctance to share resources.

The Sports Business Journal reported in 2014 that the ATP's revenue was US$107.1 million (S$152.6 million) compared to US$69.7 million for the WTA.

Lower-level ATP players have also traditionally been ambivalent to the idea.

World No. 40 Nick Kyrgios yesterday expressed his reservations, claiming he was yet to be convinced by the arguments.

He also questioned whether the opinions of most male players had been canvassed.

"Did anyone ask the majority of the ATP what they think about merging with the WTA and how it is good for us?" he tweeted.

Bureaucracy is another issue as there are three different governing bodies - the ATP, WTA, and the International Tennis Federation. The latter is set to weigh in on any proposal.

And then there is the problem of prize-money allocation, with pay parity only ensured at the Slams.

There are also question marks over sponsorship and broadcast deals while the players are individual contractors and not under a union.

As such, former ATP president Chris Kermode feels that for now, "the aim would be to work more closely together" - something that ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi alluded to last week.

Gaudenzi brought up the possibility of greater collaboration when the crisis eases.

Kermode told ESPN: "One organisation certainly won't happen in the short term.

"If it's ever advantageous for both sides to merge, it will happen. But until that point, it won't.

"If one Tour is doing better than the other, why do it? Both must have an incentive to merge."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE