ATP and WTA "Nearer to Merger". Is this a good thing?

[jimlosaltos]

Would it be a good thing for pro tennis if the ATP and WTA merged?

Reuters says it looks closer: MUMBAI, Aug 18 (Reuters) - The first major project to come out of the combined ATP and WTA marketing operation was launched on Wednesday as the streamlining of the governance of tennis gathers pace. ... "Bringing the tours' marketing teams together is an important step towards packaging and distributing tennis as one sport, which ultimately will help us enhance the experience for fans."

By some accounts, the only WTA events that make money are the joint ones with the ATP.

https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/atp-wta-inch-closer-merger-after-combining-marketing-ops-2021-08-18/

[johnyandell]

Corporate consolidation is never good!

[stroke]

I would think the WNBA would like to "merge" with the NBA also.

[jimlosaltos]

I would think the WNBA would like to "merge" with the NBA also.

Hah! Well played.

But not the same IMHO. Joint mens-womens events are the strongest pull for pro tennis, and a differentiator. Williams sisters have filled a lot of seats at the US Open.

[johnyandell]

But I would agree more joint men and women events would be great.

[stroke]

Hah! Well played.

But not the same IMHO. Joint mens-womens events are the strongest pull for pro tennis, and a differentiator. Williams sisters have filled a lot of seats at the US Open.

Men and women together in same event, I have no problem with. It certainly works in Cincy. In fact, I loved it when I was there as it moved more great men's matches off the Stadium court onto other courts which allowed unassigned(great) seats to the minions. On a side note, at an event like this, I have certainly seen first hand the inescapable fact of which matches the fans prefer to watch, even if Serena is playing on the Stadium. It is an absolute landslide for the men. That is just the way it is. To me, women tennis players compensation wise have the absolute best deal in all women's sports. Which is fine with me. I am not running the business ha.

[stotty]

It's a good move. Women's tennis would sink without it. What would help women's tennis is a great rivalry rather than Serena out there on her own, which has been the case other than the last three or so years. Evert v Navratilova was great...Steffi v Seles was great. We just don't have anything like that in women's tennis at the moment.

And yes, placing women's tennis up onto the show courts has definitely led to better viewing on the outside courts, certainly at Wimbledon.

About 5 years ago (maybe more) Venus was playing a marathon in the late afternoon on centre court. An announcement came that the scheduled men's match that followed Venus's match had been moved to an outside court. Literally, on mass, most of the centre left the stadium to rush down to outside court to get a seat and a decent view of the men's game. Now that's not me being sexist...it's just a fact. Spectators have always voted with their feet.

[tenniscoach1]

Corporate consolidation is never good!

Its a very very very very very good deal for woman's tennis ... on that note I wonder wonder wonder if daddies spend more money on tennis with the girls than the boys - there is a paper Kyle could write for this site. If I had a boy I'd likely give him a soccer ball, hockey stick, boxing gloves and pat him on the back, kick him out the door and say good luck kid and don't get any models pregnant and stay away from the chewing tobacco kid... but a girl ... whew - us dads have a soft spot.

[stroke]

Let's just say there is no more trendy woke sport than women's tennis.

[stroke]

Boa Constrictor. Great post match interview by Novak. I particularly liked the support he gave Stefanos.

[don_budge]

Would it be a good thing for pro tennis if the ATP and WTA merged?

Reuters says it looks closer: MUMBAI, Aug 18 (Reuters) - The first major project to come out of the combined ATP and WTA marketing operation was launched on Wednesday as the streamlining of the governance of tennis gathers pace. ... "Bringing the tours' marketing teams together is an important step towards packaging and distributing tennis as one sport, which ultimately will help us enhance the experience for fans."

By some accounts, the only WTA events that make money are the joint ones with the ATP.


https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sp...ps-2021-08-18/

Its a very very very very very good deal for woman's tennis ... on that note I wonder wonder wonder if daddies spend more money on tennis with the girls than the boys - there is a paper Kyle could write for this site. If I had a boy I'd likely give him a soccer ball, hockey stick, boxing gloves and pat him on the back, kick him out the door and say good luck kid and don't get any models pregnant and stay away from the chewing tobacco kid... but a girl ... whew - us dads have a soft spot.

https://www.atptour.com/en/scores/current/moscow/438/daily-schedule

The schedules on the ATP website have never specified what the women's schedule was when the two tours played on the same site. It was simply stated WTA match. This has changed recently...the first time that I noticed it. Maybe it was that way for Indian Wells. I don't recall checking the schedule on the website.

I hadn't posted on this thread. But as of now, I am going on record stating that it will be a win/win situation for both tours. This will give both tours more limelight. The women get much more attention and publicity when they are connected to the men. I have no idea who is who on the women's tour as of now but should they merge it will automatically bring them into my "purview". That's a word that the politicians are using more and more. Deflecting what they should know and what they can prove that they don't know or don't have to know.

The men are going to prosper as well. Sex always sells. If the tours merge you are going to see much more of the "Battle of the Sexes" happening. Fraternizing with the enemy. Frenemies. I can just hear it now. The gossip. Can you imagine? Alexander Zverev, Nick Kyrgios and Stan Wawrinka come to mind as having some volatility in this regard. Ah...what makes the world go around? Boys and girls...that's what. Who's zooming who? The men are going to need all the help they can get from this point going forwards. The recent Indian Wells tournament was a veritable snooze fest. Barely a handful of matches that were "watchable". If that. I would go out on a limb and say there wasn't a single match worth watching from warmup to match point. When Roger Federer was in the tournament there was always one match potentially being watchable. Other matches became more interesting just because of him as the draw unfolded through the tournament and his path through the draw unfolded.

For years I have warned of the problem of not having Roger in the draw. Indian Wells gave us a sneak preview of what it looks like with Roger, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. It wasn't pretty. The finals being contested by the #16 and #27 players in the world. Some might optimistically (retardedly) claim that this is some sort of attractive thing but it is a ratings nightmare. Where is the main attraction? It's a Brave New World now boys...and the girls just might be the ones to save the day.

[jimlosaltos]

https://www.atptour.com/en/scores/current/moscow/438/daily-schedule

For years I have warned of the problem of not having Roger in the draw. Indian Wells gave us a sneak preview of what it looks like with Roger, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. It wasn't pretty. The finals being contested by the #16 and #27 players in the world. Some might optimistically (retardedly) claim that this is some sort of attractive thing but it is a ratings nightmare. Where is the main attraction? It's a Brave New World now boys...and the girls just might be the ones to save the day.

I share your apprehension for the ATP post Big Three.

And I'm not sure what to think of Norrie vs Bash as a final.

However, I found a number of matches in Indian Wells quite compelling. Dimitrov over Hurkacz was an extremely high quality battle. Hubert was bombing 135s and Dimitrov was making that slice backhand hum and skid on the glacially slow court. Battles of opposing styles are often the most interesting, to me anyways.

Also, the women's final was one intense match. I'd forgotten how good Vika was, or is. In fact, I'd say she played better than she did when she out slugged Serena to win a final on the same court a couple of years back. And even then Badosa was winning the baseline battle. So, Vika switched to deft drop shops and --- wait for -- going to the net. (I know, isn't that extinct?). Worked well enough to get her within 2 points of a recored third title, then Badosa did her Maria 2.0 fist pump and took over.

Awesome.

Plus, the Russian singles team in doubles, Karatsev and Rublev entertained, although they fell just short in the finals. While Rublev is just playing singles on a doubles court, Karatsev brings his own approach to doubles. I can't recall when I've seen someone return so aggressively in doubles. He was leaping way inside the court to pound returns off big serves. What reflexes. And he literally poached from one doubles alley to the other. Reminded me of Leander Paes in that one dimension.

So, not all hope is gone <g>.

[don_budge]

I share your apprehension for the ATP post Big Three.

And I'm not sure what to think of Norrie vs Bash as a final.

However, I found a number of matches in Indian Wells quite compelling. Dimitrov over Hurkacz was an extremely high quality battle. Hubert was bombing 135s and Dimitrov was making that slice backhand hum and skid on the glacially slow court. Battles of opposing styles are often the most interesting, to me anyways.

Also, the women's final was one intense match. I'd forgotten how good Vika was, or is. In fact, I'd say she played better than she did when she out slugged Serena to win a final on the same court a couple of years back. And even then Badosa was winning the baseline battle. So, Vika switched to deft drop shops and --- wait for -- going to the net. (I know, isn't that extinct?). Worked well enough to get her within 2 points of a recored third title, then Badosa did her Maria 2.0 fist pump and took over.

Awesome.

Plus, the Russian singles team in doubles, Karatsev and Rublev entertained, although they fell just short in the finals. While Rublev is just playing singles on a doubles court, Karatsev brings his own approach to doubles. I can't recall when I've seen someone return so aggressively in doubles. He was leaping way inside the court to pound returns off big serves. What reflexes. And he literally poached from one doubles alley to the other. Reminded me of Leander Paes in that one dimension.

So, not all hope is gone <g>.

Pragmatically speaking...realistically speaking. All hope is gone. Compelling? Hurkacz? Hardly. Not to me...at least. Good for you though. Don't get me wrong. But I look at the draw sheet before a tournament and knowing what I know, every picture tells a story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqi_m-pMuoI

Rod Stewart says as much, even though he isn't talking tennis. He's talking life. Tennis metaphors life...the older I get the more I see. This game is dead in the water compared to what was and that isn't wistful thinking. The characters are such duds. I can't bring myself to watch a single match for longer than ten minutes. That's all I need. You can see with your own eyes what the rest of it is going to be. Not to mention the droning of the announcers trying to jazz it up. Trying to raise it from the dead.

So the complete context of my post is that the women joining the men at events is a positive move. Sex it up. Get these players to mingle and jingle. Let's have a gossip portion to the commentary. So and so are shacking up. This one is zooming this one. This would go along with the modern thought. The virtual morality of the entire thing. Women doing women...vice versa. I cannot even think of that one let alone mention it. Sound a little radical? Not to the White House. A four star general transvestite sound par for the course? Of course it does. Shoot...why not? Perhaps the tour needs another transvestite. Transexual. One of the top one hundred men needs to undergo the change. Dominate the women. Let's lay this argument to rest.

Good point on the doubles jimlosaltos. The doubles has been relegated a most secondary role in the big picture. Compel the top players to play. Somehow. Money incentives. Less on singles and more for doubles. Who fucking knows? I notice that the men's shorts are back to mid thigh all of a sudden. These changes aren't coincidences. There are no coincidences.

You can hope all you want. Oblabla called it "Hope and Change". Look where that is leading us. They went to bed with Obama and woke up with Biden. Jesus help us!!!