Tennis Related - Off Court Serious Issues

[ponchi101]

The un-answerable question. Had they not had each other, had the one existing reached 25+ slams? Or would that person simply have been satisfied with the level she had and not pushed herself to the excellency they both achieved?

[meganfernandez]

Such parallels with Roger and Rafa (except they never didn't like each other). This line fits: "It’s as if they were purposely constructed to test each other — and to whip up intense reactions from their audiences." I've always thought Roger was the perfect carrot for Rafa to chase and motivate him to greatness, and their stylistic differences were much like Chris and Martina's. One right and one lefty, too.

Hate this construction, though: "The parallels were funny, until they weren’t." One of my pet peeves. It doesn't say anything. Everything is the way it is until it's not.

[ponchi101]

Such parallels with Roger and Rafa (except they never didn't like each other). This line fits: "It’s as if they were purposely constructed to test each other — and to whip up intense reactions from their audiences." I've always thought Roger was the perfect carrot for Rafa to chase and motivate him to greatness, and their stylistic differences were much like Chris and Martina's. One right and one lefty, too.

Hate this construction, though: "The parallels were funny, until they weren’t." One of my pet peeves. It doesn't say anything. Everything is the way it is until it's not.

Exactly.

[ti-amie]

Exclusive: WTA investigating multiple player-coach relationships
Work to combat power imbalances between coaches and players risks being ‘deprofessionalised and deligitimised’ by ongoing relationships

By
Simon Briggs,
TENNIS CORRESPONDENT
26 June 2022 • 5:57pm

Two high-profile coaches are under investigation by the WTA Tour for engaging in unprofessional, potentially abusive relationships with their players, Telegraph Sport understands.

Affairs between players and coaches are alarmingly common on the women’s tour, leading one top coach to suggest that the situation “deprofessionalises and deligitimises” the whole sport. But the WTA leadership – spurred on by recent revelations from 1980s champion Pam Shriver in these pages – are at least showing signs of addressing this long-standing problem.

A new post – “director of safeguarding” – has been advertised by the WTA. Behind the scenes, meanwhile, some coaches have noticed a more open and interested attitude from the tour's leadership towards reports of concerning behaviour.

There are still critics, however, who believe that the lack of an anonymous hotline for such reporting is a sign of a deeper lack of commitment.

Two leading coaches have spoken to Telegraph Sport about the need for action in a world where other sports do more to police such boundaries. “I have never seen so many boyfriends who are also coaches in women’s tennis than now,” said Vladimir Platenik, an experienced Slovakian coach who has worked with the recent French Open semi-finalist Daria Kasatkina among many other well-known names.

“There were cases before, but right now it’s a little bit too much for my taste. The problem is here are some coaches, they are hitting on every player they coach. It’s something very weird, because actually the prize money went up, the girls do earn enough money to pay the good coaches. But it’s like a trend.”

The point was echoed by Marc Lucero, who is at Wimbledon this week with his latest client Steve Johnson, but has also worked with a number of successful American women including Shelby Rogers and Alison Riske.

“When this happens, it deprofessionalises and delegitimises our whole sport,” said Lucero. “There are clearly some bad actors who abuse the power dynamic between them and the players, either through undermining them mentally or entering into relationships that cross acceptable boundaries.

“It’s something that’s always there, and it just creates an environment that is not great for anyone – though it obviously does a particular disservice to the player. The players are invariably younger: some of them are in their teens and still maturing. It starts from a place where the power dynamic is very imbalanced. This can create psychological and emotional impact and trauma that is felt for years.”

A third coach, who works with a grand-slam champion, told Telegraph Sport anonymously that “It’s clear such behaviour is absolutely wrong and these coaches should be banned from the tour.”

Expelling coaches can be technically challenging in an individual sport that involves independent contractors, rather than the more top-down structures we see in team sports. But there have been examples of coaches having their credentials cancelled in the past.

An alternative solution might be to create a new system of licensing for all team members – because it is not only coaches who often cross the boundary into personal relationships with their players, but sometimes also fitness trainers or other support staff.

Asked whether the WTA are investigating the behaviour of any specific coaches at the moment, a spokesperson replied “In the case that any investigations may have or are taking place, we would not be at liberty to comment. Player safety is of the utmost importance to the WTA and our commitment to that remains resolute.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tennis/2022 ... tionships/

[mmmm8]

Good direction but really the first and primary focus should be from ITF on grooming and sexual abuse against juniors and not being more "open" to reports.

The fact that they were motivated by Shriver's allegations when it's less than an open secret that this happens all the time is a little sad.

[meganfernandez]

[mmmm8]

Quite the story. Andy is a class act.

[meganfernandez]

Quite the story. Andy is a class act.

Gobsmacked. How cool. Glad she is okay.

[ti-amie]

Jon Wertheim with the latest on the WTA. It ain't pretty.

Sorry to say that the women's game has descended again into "who's this? vs. who's this?" Can anyone name the top 3 players? Anonymity has returned.

Dominic Ciafardini

• This, sadly, is a sentiment you hear too often, especially among casual fans and non-fans. I’d say it’s too harsh by an order of magnitude. There is a player who is barely 22 and has already won four Majors. Since 2022: Serena Williams retired; a reigning No.1 (Ash Barty) retired; Naomi Osaka is pregnant; as is another multi-Major winner, Angie Kerber; a surprise, multi-ethnic star (Emma Raducanu) can’t stay healthy; Garbine Muguruza is a on a mental health hiatus; another multi-Major winner, Simona Halep, is facing a doping ban. That is a lot of lost star wattage.

Still, my concern for women’s tennis as a product is minimal. My concern for the WTA as a business is broad. It’s a far less sexy topic than Tsitsi-dosa or who wears what attire or even scheduling gripes … and yes, this is deep inside baseball, but the WTA—and I would love to be wrong here—appears to be headed for crisis:

This CVC deal is baffling. Earlier this year, for $150 million on a $750 valuation—less than the Ottawa Senators, by the way—CVC got 20% equity in the WTA. Two-thirds of the $150 million equity stake (loan?) is going to fund equal prize money. Sidestepping the semantic question (is it really equal prize money if it is so artificially created?), one wonders: really? You take on venture capital largely to fund more prize money? This is great for the players (and their agents) and for optics, but is this really a long-term strategic growth plan? This is really going to build the business? This is really going to shore up the tour’s balance sheets? How exactly? And what happens when the ATP avail themselves the funding dangled by the Saudi Private Investment Fund. Their purses will skyrocket. How then will the WTA shortfall be covered to ensure this “equality" remains?

The WTA is actively shopping for a home for the Year-End Finals, historically the tour’s single biggest source of revenue. Wait, wait, wait … what? Wasn’t this the entire reason the WTA reversed course, capitulated morally and returned to China after its much-publicized stance? You’re going back to China, but not holding your lucrative year-end event there? You didn’t lock that in before your announcement? This is like someone separating from their spouse, disparaging (justifiably, in this case) the spouse publicly to the world, demanding an independent investigation into their spouse’s alleged infelicities … and then deciding to reunite and move back in … but failing to first consult with their partner and, you know, make sure reconciliation was still on the table as an option. The WTA lost face and crawled back to China bouquet in hand—“Here honey, I bought you these”—only to realize the locks had been changed and honey had moved on.

How do you spurn China on the grounds “its values don’t comport with ours” only to engage with Saudi Arabia, where homosexuality is criminalized, men can access wife-tracking apps, democracy is non-existent and the brave soul who successfully spearheaded the women-should-be-able-to-drive campaign was arrested and is currently forbidden from leaving the country? Is Saudi Arabia progressing culturally? Probably. Is the presence of the WTA a force of good and progress and Westernization? Yes. Is the Saudi Federation led by a woman? It is. But is this a curious landing space for the WTA after such vocal and unified moral condemnation of China barely a year ago? 100%.

When a universally-adored broadcaster noted that “Rybakina is Russian, came from Russia, and moved to Kasatkina,” everyone had a good chuckle. But there was something revealing there. With zero disrespect for the players or their homelands, we are not in an era of well-known stars, nor of players from commercially ideal countries. In the last 18 months (with Williams, Barty, Raducanu, and Osaka retired or missing) the WTA lost anchors in the U.S., Australia, Japan and U.K. The current “Big Three” represent Poland, Belarus and Kazakhstan. Commercially—I stress: commercially; this is no way a dig at the players, who are awesome, or their nations of origin—the top of the sport is not ideally positioned right now for a business heading into the global marketplace.

Credible sources tell me that Wimbledon would have been interested in making the $150 million investment in the WTA. And would have done so with terms favorable to those offered by CVC. Saudi Arabia would have done a similar deal as well. This is just a series of misplayed hands, and the WTA’s own hand weakens.

Private equity is the financial equivalent of the honey badger. It don’t care. For all the flowery press releases, and positioning as a “strategic partnership,” this CVC investment was not made for reasons of altruism or nobility or for a belief in Title IX and the spirit of Billie Jean King. CVC saw a distressed enterprise and went into predator mode. Assuming this is set up like most private equity deals, CVC, in addition to its equity stake, gets a guaranteed annual return on its investment. Where’s that return coming from? Not the $100 million devoted to equal prize money. Not the WTA Finals, which in mid-July, still lack a home. When CVC doesn’t get its premium, it will simply dig in its talons.

John Adams: “There are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation: One is by the sword. The other is by debt.”

Maybe Saudi Arabia saves the day, and it (over)bids to host the year-end event. Or it buys off CVC at a multiple, and takes over that 20% equity stake. Or comes up with a new entity, LIV-golf style. But if you care about women’s tennis and want to see it succeed (we plead guilty) I don’t know how you could look at this fact pattern objectively, and not come away deeply concerned.

https://www.si.com/tennis/2023/07/11/it ... er-eubanks

[ti-amie]

WTA, CVC launch partnership to increase women's tennis revenues
Associated Press

Mar 7, 2023, 09:15 AM ET

The women's professional tennis tour launched a commercial enterprise with CVC Capital Partners on Tuesday to increase revenues for the sport, with the investment manager contributing $150 million for a 20% stake in what will be known as WTA Ventures LLC.

"Obviously, the ambition is to materially grow women's professional tennis. Grow our profile, its value, the prize money," WTA Chairman and CEO Steve Simon said. "This arrangement is certainly going to provide for us to create more investment opportunity to our players and our tournaments."

He said the new entity is completely separate from St. Petersburg, Florida-based WTA Inc., which oversees the tour itself, and will manage all of the sport's commercial activities, including rights for broadcast, data, gaming, sponsorship, licensing and NFTs.

"We can begin, hopefully, gaining more audience and more engaged fans," Simon said. "That will then drive the asset value of each of those properties through the growth of the audience."

In late 2021, Simon announced that the WTA would be suspending all of its tournaments -- including the season-ending WTA Finals -- that were held in China because of concerns over the safety of former player Peng Shuai, costing the tour millions of dollars. That ban on competition in China remains in place; Simon said there will be a decision about where to hold this season's WTA Finals by the end of March.

He called the CVC investment "completely unattached from any of those issues."

Simon also said the agreement announced Tuesday "doesn't prohibit, in any way, from us continuing to have discussions with the ATP (men's tennis tour) and potentially doing a bigger deal with the ATP involved."

CVC says on its website that it is a "global alternative investment manager" with more than 137 billion euros ($145 billion) in assets under management.

It has worked with Formula One, European soccer leagues, rugby, volleyball and other sports.

The WTA-CVC partnership has been in the works for a while, from the initial concept to the work to complete the deal over the past 12 months.

"It's been a long journey," Simon said.

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https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/ ... s-revenues

[ponchi101]

As you say. It isn't pretty.
But what if the product simply does not sell? Yes, I know; us here at TAT2.0 do watch women's, and they have delivered Slams finals (this year) that have been way more compelling that the ATP. But I am also sure that if I go and ask any Colombian to name me 3 of the top 10 players in the WTA, they will not be able.

[Suliso]

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I think WTA should quietly abandon this artificial drive for an equal prize money. They'll just bankrupt themselves by trying. At Slams and Miami/IW yes, but otherwise it's financially impossible. It's like NHL players asking to be paid as much as NBA. Deservedly so perhaps, but the interest for their product is more limited...

[meganfernandez]

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I think WTA should quietly abandon this artificial drive for an equal prize money. They'll just bankrupt themselves by trying. At Slams and Miami/IW yes, but otherwise it's financially impossible. It's like NHL players asking to be paid as much as NBA. Deservedly so perhaps, but the interest for their product is more limited...

I think it's reasonable at combined events. Will the WTA's costs (its portion of the purse) go way up, or is the tournament putting up most of the difference?

It's an interesting point.

[ponchi101]

Or is the ATP subsidizing the WTA? If that were the economics' truth, should they?
(I say yes, but that is me).

[meganfernandez]

Or is the ATP subsidizing the WTA? If that were the economics' truth, should they?
(I say yes, but that is me).

That's the question. Do the tours kick in more, or just the WTA, or the tournaments/sponsors, or all three?

If the answer is the tours, then we can also say the top players are subsidizing the nobodies. Their involvement carries the tournaments.