Roger Federer has suggested that the men’s ATP and women’s WTA tours should merge.
The Swiss star said uniting the men’s and women’s governing bodies was “probably long overdue” and that the Covid-19 pandemic was the ideal time for them to join forces.
“Just wondering…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?,” Federer said on Twitter.
“I am picturing a merger between the WTA and ATP. I am not talking about merging competition on the court, but merging the 2 governing bodies (ATP and WTA) that oversee the men’s and women’s professional tours.
“It probably should have happened a long time ago, but maybe now is really the time. These are tough times in every sport and we can come out of this with 2 weakened bodies or 1 stronger body.”
Australia’s Nick Kyrgios, was among those players to quickly agree.
The ATP’s new chief executive, Andrea Guadenzi, told ATP Tennis Radio this week that working closer together was a “no-brainer”.
“It is extremely important and I think it is one of our biggest advantages towards our competitors,” he said.
“Not only do we have a great women’s product, but also our audience is fairly split among women and men. A combined event, I strongly believe, is a better event both on site and (in) media.
“It is just great. The variety is great. Our fans, they love both. We have strong combined tournaments within the ATP and the WTA and the Grand Slams are combined.”
Gaudenzi said tennis was actually leading the way in promoting women’s sport alongside men’s.
“It is really a no-brainer and actually, we are lucky to be at the forefront in that regard,” he said.
“Other sports should be looking at what we have done so far. It is really important and it is a huge opportunity because it becomes very appealing content for the broadcasters.”
Former women’s world No.1 Billie Jean King has long led the call for the ATP and WTA to unite, while former WTA chiefs Stacey Allaster and Anne Worcester have also suggested the tours would be stronger together.
The governance of tennis has been an issue for many years, with the fact that there are seven governing bodies often held up as one of the reasons tennis is not even more successful than it is.
The ITF sets the rules of tennis and organises the four Grand Slam events – Wimbledon, US Open, French Open and Australian Open, while the WTA runs the women’s tour and the ATP runs the men’s.
Federer said unifying the two, in some way or other, would make things easier for fans.
“It’s too confusing for the fans when there are different ranking systems, different logos, different websites, different tournament categories,” he said.