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 The WTA made its Roadmap 2010 (2009) announcement in Miami on Tuesday. The statements were fairly general, so here’s a quick breakdown incorporating some of the other details as well as comments made by officials during and after the presentation:
New calendar
The Tour released a list of the planned top-level events in 2009, conveniently listing them by geography and alphabetical so the exact dates and tournament levels aren’t clear.
On the right is a ‘best guess’ at what the calendar will look like - this could be updated through the day if other details become known. The off-season will be nine weeks starting at the end of October; other than that, it's not radically different from what exists now.
The Tour’s original goal was to divide the circuit into two sets of very distinct higher- and lower-level events, but objections from the USTA and possibly elsewhere resulted in a compromise that will essentially see the current Tier I – V structure become a four-tier structure: three levels where top players compete ($4 million-$600,000) and a fourth 'B' level (not yet annouced) where very few if any of the top 10 - or even top 20 - compete.
- four mandatory events – Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid and Beijing. The first two will be 12 days they are now, and the other two will be nine days.
Madrid will be during the clay season as speculated, and eventually combined with the men if the impasse over the ATP clay season is resolved. Beijing is brand new at this level, and is rumored to have ‘outbid’ Shanghai which was probably earmarked for the event.
The men announced a Masters Series event in Shanghai at the same time, and the tours are planning to co-ordinate the timing of both events somehow – same week, consecutive weeks, alternating venues, etc. (No press conference from the ATP, though, just as there wasn’t one when the decision to scrap round-robin was announced. Don’t be shy, guys...)
- five seven-day, non-mandatory events with a majority of the top 10 playing – these are almost definitely Dubai, Rome, Toronto, Cincinnati and probably Moscow, but not officially specified.
- 11 events with a few of the top 10 – these include the events the week before the Grand Slams, which can have more top players than the others.
Misc.: Zurich is, not surprisingly, not on the list – the tournament was already financially stretched and thinking about cutting back. San Diego may be revived in some form. Current Tier IIs not on this premium list are Antwerp, Amelia Island, Warsaw, Luxembourg and Linz.
The original, rather curious idea of having a secondary year-end championships for players who didn’t get into the real one is apparently still out there, but nothing specific has been worked out. Hard to see players getting psyched to play it if it happens.
Player suspensions
Players who miss mandatory events or tournament commitments at the next level down could be suspended from the next two top-level tournaments.
WTA execs said the exact rules are still being worked out, which is probably code for 'the disagreements continue.' To wit – Maria Sharapova after her match on Tuesday: “It's something that is very concerning at the moment, and there are a lot of buts and ifs, so we're definitely in the talks.” Does she think the proposed penalties too harsh? “With the way it is set right now, yes, I do.”
The big question here centers around the Williams sisters, who would be suspended from Miami if they continued not to play Indian Wells. Is the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour really going to stop two of its biggest stars from playing in the Sony Ericsson Open?
Larry Scott (WTA CEO): “There will be no exceptions for individual player circumstances... Having said that, I'm very sensitive to some of the concerns that Venus and Serena have had with Indian Wells. I've discussed this with both of them, and I think they understand that we can't design a system around individual issues that players have.”
Serena Williams after her match on Tuesday: “I haven't had a chance to talk to Larry about it. I've been here every day, and we're supposed to have a sit down and have a powwow about it, but I haven't had a chance. So I look forward to talking to him at least an hour about it so I can be updated with everything. I don't want to make any comments until I'm knowledgeable about it.”
The way out of this one may lie in an appeals process that's still being worked out but could delay or avert the suspension.
Henin, who was at the WTA press conference, said the streamlined calendar would make it easier for players to keep their commitments, and the shortened season was a big victory that would encourage players to do what the tour is asking.
One note: in a sense, the whole Roadmap hinges on player commitments being met. The tournaments are being asked to come up with a lot of prize money, and if they don’t get their promised fields the whole thing will likely fall apart. But given the way the last few years have played out with the players getting injured or deciding to take a break, its going to be a tough challenge for the tour.
Prize money/Revenue sharing
Total WTA prize money is scheduled to go up 30% between 2008 and 2009. A big jump, and the four mandatory events will all have prize money equal to the men’s events. That comes after Wimbledon and the French Open announced just a few weeks ago that they will be paying equal prize money, meaning that all four Grand Slams now do so.
Not many details on the revenue sharing, but the idea is that there will be a formula that results in prize money going up as a tournament’s revenues go up, with the 2009 prize money being the minimum level. (There's an odd detail attached to this but that will have to wait till it's more clear what it means.)
Push into China
In addition to the mandatory event in Beijing, the WTA will also be opening an Asia-Pacific office there next year.
The big commitments made to China by both tours, along with growing focus on Doha and Dubai, generated a lot of discussion about the social implications that go along with this. It's unlikely to make a difference to what’s decided, but will - and should - continue to be a talking point.
And now, a word from our sponsor
The company’s head of marketing was also at the press conference:
“We believed when we came into this sport that the sport needed reforms in terms of making it attractive to the younger users, who are the primary consumers of cell phones. We also needed to attract more new sponsors to the sport. So on behalf of the other sponsors, we see this very positively.
... The other great thing is the growth of tennis in China. China is an important market for our business and for businesses around the world, and it's great news that Sony Ericsson WTA Tour will be making a positive move towards improving its footprint in China.
... I think we went into women's tennis specifically because of the passion and innovation that we saw in women's tennis. I think today's roadmap is a good indication of that innovation that we have asked for, and that women's tennis has demonstrated throughout its history.
We also wanted to make sure that women's tennis had a global footprint, and I think that was one of the things that we have seen for the past few years: The extension of a global footprint in the market where we see emerging audiences.
So that's very exciting for us. And obviously I think that women's tennis has this amazing ability to travel many fields, not just the field of tennis but fields of entertainment, fashion, music, and this is one of the things that is attractive for a brand like ours in the mobile entertainment space."
Refresh my memory: Sony Ericsson struck a sponsorship deal with the WTA, not an acquisition deal, right? Post answers below or just call from your mobile entertainment space.
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