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As the Tennis Word Turns: Is the WTA Ready for Reform?
by Nadya Vlassoff
Only a few days after Maria Sharapova claimed
her first title win of 2009 at the Pan Pacific
Open in Tokyo, the WTA has continued its tour
in Asia at the newly reengineered $6.6 million
China Open, which was supposed to be the tournament
that kept tennis fans satisfied despite the end
of the grand slam season. Things had progressed
nicely for the WTA with what should have been
a continuation of Kim Clijsters and her resurgent
return to the top of the tennis world after claiming
the U.S. Open title. However, like every other
week on the WTA tour, things just were not what
they should have been.
Beijing, China, the former global stage of the 2008 Summer Olympics was ripe with headlines that rocked tennis news, as Roger Federer failed to make it to the men’s singles gold medal round in the Olympics but did manage to win the men’s doubles gold. Serena Williams and Venus Williams failed to win the women’s singles gold but teamed up to crush the competition in the women’s doubles. Elena Dementieva topped her previous singles best of a silver at the 2004 Athens Games, and won the gold to further make the argument that Dementieva is the best female player in the top 20 to have not won a grand slam title to date.
So where did it all go wrong? Less than two years ago the WTA was set to make a ferocious comeback with Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters, Venus and Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, and more women who were all playing well at the time. The 2008 Australian Open was a shining advertisement for the WTA and all of the potential the women’s tour had to offer as most of the dominant players were out in full force, playing with conviction, save for Ana Ivanovic’s lacklustre performance in the final. Then Justine Henin retired at her peak and failed to defend her French Open crown. Tournament organizers were crushed and left to scramble over how to make up for such a huge loss. Kim Clijsters had already hung up her racket in 2007 after several injuries and lack of desire to play in order to start a family.
 Maria
Sharapova was desperate to overcome a shoulder
injury but was eventually forced to take a 10-month
break for rehabilitation. The only two formidable
players left were the Williams sisters of Serena
and Venus who split the final two slams of the
season but failed to do go on the bigger on-court
heights. Ana Ivanovic suffered a wrist injury
after her French Open victory and has done little
since to regain her former #1 ranking and most
recently ended her 2009 season early due to
another injury as her ranking took a nosedive.
2009 began in the same dismal fashion that
2008 ended. Serena Williams was the only WTA
player to show consistency on the grand slam
stage as she took the Australian Open and Wimbledon
titles. Dinara Safina was heavily criticized
for her failure to earn her #1 ranking, which
she gained in April despite a lack of grand
slam titles, most attributed Safina’s new rank
atop the tennis world to Serena’s lack of success
away from the grand slams. With a fashion line
and book deal in tow, Serena Williams wasn’t
hard up for opportunity while the WTA did little
to enforce their new “mandatory” rules, which
were supposed to ensure that top ranked players
would participate in the newly structured premiere
tournament schedule.
Unlike team sports where many athletes factor
into a win, tennis is a solitary sport. All
of the pressure rests on one set of shoulders,
especially when they belong to the #1 ranked
player in the world. Unfortunately, and certainly
an obvious detriment, if that particular player
has an off day, the competition lacks stars
to pick up the slack. Tennis fans were left
aghast at the mockery of the WTA ranking system
as Safina continually failed to live up to her
ranking and Serena Williams, along with most
of the global tennis viewers, fuelled anger
over the injustices of the point system.
 That’s
not to say Dinara Safina isn’t a great player,
obviously she is pr she wouldn’t be playing
at a high level. The young Russian is an incredibly
talented player who puts her heart and soul
into her game. Maybe she just needs a new coach;
one who actually believes in her talent and
potential and can cultivate it in a productive
manner? Safina is bursting with explosive power
and should be able to hold her own against equally
commanding baseline players. Of course, easier
said than done. Safina endured a disastrous
straight sets loss at the hands of Serena Williams
in the 2009 Australian Open final that saw Safina
play her heart out for a handful of games. But
it was her lack of trust in her game that proved
to be the decisive factor in the Serena defeat.
Current WTA CEO, Stacey Allaster, has her hands
full for a big turnaround in 2010 despite receiving
a big boost with Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin
returning to the WTA after retirement. Maria
Sharapova looks to have finally gotten her serve
in order and Serena Williams has reclaimed her
#1 ranking after a second round victory at the
China Open. There are only two years left in
6-year, $88 million deal with Sony Ericsson
and unless the WTA can continue to build fan
interest, another deal with the electronics
giant could hit a skid. Due to the economic
recession, Sony posted losses in the millions.
Who knows if that could have an impact in 2011
when the time comes for renegotiations?
 Justine
Henin has confirmed that she’ll play until the
2012 London Olympics, barring injury of course.
Clijsters has stated that her family comes first
and she will schedule her potential tournaments
accordingly. Serena and Venus are among the
oldest yet still successful players on tour,
although Venus has faltered more often than
not in the last couple of years except for her
consistent victories at Wimbledon. Interestingly,
there are plenty of potential stars in the top
20, even the top 100. Yanina Wickmayer, Caroline
Wozniacki, Sabine Lisicki, and Sorana Cirstea
are just a few young players that have the talent
to make it into the top 10 in the next couple
of years. However, all young stars need patient
coaches and both the determination and belief
in themselves to go the next level. So often
young players fall to their own mental fragility
and fall short of living up to their potential.
Thomas Berdych was one such player on the ATP
tour who was highly touted alongside Andy Murray
and Richard Gasquet as a player to watch. All
three have failed to win a grand slam tournament.
Overall, despite the ranking system and the
whirlwind that is the WTA’s active roster, CEO
Stacey Allaster has a lot to be thankful for
in the future. Three big names will be back
for the start of the 2010 season, attendance
at the U.S. Open set a new record, and organizers
of the Australian Open recently released a statement
conforming tournament prize money will be raised
to $21.4 million. Clearly, tennis is still alive
and well. But the WTA has to do a better job
of working with its players in order to ensure
they commit to the premier tournaments and not
just the grand slams.
With only three spots left for the season-ending WTA Sony Ericsson Championships, it will be a battle of wills to see who can wrangle enough points and favour from WTA tournament organizers in order to book a spot in the $4.55 million event. Maria Sharapova has a chance but the former #1 player must keep her shoulder in check. Ivanovic is out, and Jelena Jankovic is currently working through a few injuries. Venus Williams is yet to qualify, which has raised a few eyebrows since Williams is also still nursing an injured knee. Victoria Azarenka, Flavia Pennetta, and Agnieszka Radwanska all have a chance to qualify but as is the custom in the WTA these days, it all comes down to who can prove that they deserve to be there.
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