Federer and Williams legacy to be used by new champions

For world tennis, 2022 has been a special year in many ways. After two of the brightest stars, Serena Williams and Roger Federer, announced the end of their performances one after another, it became known about a significant increase in prize money in men’s competitions, as well as the holding of a new combined team tournament of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). Member of the Board of Directors of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Alexey Selivanenko in an interview with a Kommersant correspondent Evgeny Fedyakov spoke about the interaction of leading tennis organizations, described possible directions for the development of professional tennis and explained why interest in this sport in the world should grow.

– In the past season, a record number of fans was recorded at 12 ATP tournaments at once. Can we say that tennis has fully recovered from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic?

— In my opinion, yes. This is evidenced not only by the growth in attendance and television audience of tennis competitions, but also by the interest shown by their potential organizers in holding new tournaments. Yes, and the athletes missed the regular game practice. It is no coincidence that this year the average number of top thirty players participating in the ATP 500 and Masters 1000 tournaments has increased. At the same time, a whole galaxy of young charismatic players has appeared. All this has helped to mitigate the consequences of the pandemic in many ways.

– So the negative effect on the tennis industry, which was so much talked about in the spring of 2020, was overestimated?

– Everything is relative. Commercially successful tournaments have certainly suffered. And the players whose takeoff came during the pandemic, including Andrei Rublev, received less prize money. It is also certainly a shame to those age-old athletes whose careers during this period were nearing completion. But purely tennis problems are nothing compared to the problems faced by people around the world. It was hard for everyone, without exception, so there is no point in complaining, especially since after the start of the pandemic, in the interests of the players who were eliminated at the early stages, that is, the vast majority, there was a redistribution of prize funds.

– The fact that in September of this year such superstars as Serena Williams and Roger Federer announced the end of their careers within two weeks did not affect the interest in tennis?

There were certain fears about this, but it is already clear that they were not justified. The legacy of Federer and Williams will be used by new champions. For example, in men, the generation of Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrei Rublev is gradually covered by a new wave – Carlos Alcaras, Kasper Ruud, Holger Rune and Yannick Sinner. At the same time, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, who, along with Federer and Andy Murray, have fueled interest in tennis over the years, remain in the spotlight. For women, of course, the situation is slightly different. For many years there was one clear leader – Serena Williams, and although her confrontation with Maria Sharapova aroused interest, it still had a different character than the confrontation between Federer and Nadal. However, everything has its time. In addition, in my opinion, tennis should be considered as a single sport in which any fan will find something interesting for himself. It is no coincidence that this year, despite many difficulties and contradictions between the parties concerned – players, national federations and tournament organizers – the existing tennis architecture has maintained a balance of interests, demonstrating its rationality.

– Next season, the total prize pool at the ATP tournaments will increase immediately by $37.5 million and will amount to $217.9 million. These are record figures. How will they be achieved?

— This is the result of the first stage of the practical implementation of the strategy of Andrea Gaudenzi, who headed the Asia-Pacific region in early 2020. His idea is to unite all tennis media assets and sell them as a single pool. We are talking about the rights to broadcast on traditional television and on the Internet, as well as to statistical data that are used by bookmakers and their clients. After all, one of the main problems of tennis was that the ITF, ATP, WTA and even individual tournaments were selling their assets separately. Gaudenzi, on the other hand, suggested consolidating all types of communications with fans, selling them from a “single window”. So far, only the first step has been taken in this direction.

– And what then explains the significant difference in the prize funds of the final ATP and WTA tournaments? Women in Fort Worth had a total of $5 million up for grabs, just $260,000 more than champion Novak Djokovic earned in Turin. And in terms of the total number of tournaments held this year – 66 against 51 – the men’s tour is clearly ahead.

– One of the main reasons for this is that the men’s tour is much less tied to the autumn series of tournaments in China than the women’s tour. And it did not take place for the third season in a row. Therefore, the WTA again had to look for a new venue for the final tournament, which, according to the contract, should actually be held in Shenzhen from 2019 to 2028. Last year it was held in Guadalajara, Mexico, and this fall it was brought to Texas.

– Is there any reason to say that the WTA, unlike the ATP, is in a financial crisis?

– No, in this case this word does not reflect the real state of affairs. Don’t forget that in the spring, the WTA had a title sponsor for the first time in 12 years – Hologic, a medical technology company. In addition, the WTA deal with the large investment company CVC Capital Partners is at an advanced stage (if this agreement is signed, women’s tennis can receive about $ 150 million.— “b”, see the issue of 21 September). That is, the women’s professional tour, like all tennis, does not suffer due to the lack of serious institutional investors.

– Already on December 29, the United Cup begins in Australia – the first ever team tournament, which is held jointly by the ATP and WTA. About two years ago, there was information that the difficulties associated with the pandemic could push the two organizations to unite. Now their relationship has reached a new stage?

– Hardly. In principle, the leadership of the WTA has been thinking about holding its own team tournament for a long time, and now everything has turned out well. In a situation in which income and costs are divided in half between the two rounds, it was easy enough to reach an agreement. The players also welcomed the idea of ​​organizing the United Cup, and I think that the tournament will be a great success. Although this does not remove the contradictions that still exist between the ATP and the WTA.

– And how do you assess the fact that the ATP has officially included the Davis Cup, which is held under the auspices of the ITF, in its calendar?

– In fact, the ITF and the ATP are becoming partners in joint projects. It is no coincidence that ATP is represented in the new Davis Cup committee, which was not there before, joint work continues to consolidate media assets, and interaction between ITF tournaments deepens (professional competitions with minimal prize funds.— “b”) and Challenger category tournaments (tournaments held by the ATP, but inferior in status to the ATP Tour.— “b”). Controversial issues, of course, also remain. For example, the most sensitive topic in tennis is the calendar, and some of the controversies about its formation simply have no solution. But disputes are already taking place within the framework of a single team, and not between two organizations, which is of fundamental importance.

– Can we expect any major changes in the calendar?

– In 2023, the Masters 1000 tournaments in Madrid, Rome and Shanghai, which used to last a week, will be held over ten days. Someone perceives this as a small detail, but for tennis these are very serious changes. Theoretically, one cannot rule out the possibility of moving large competitions to other cities. In any case, practice shows that tennis tournaments are good assets, a profitable way to invest large amounts of money. It is no coincidence that last year the Madrid Open, owned by the structures of Ion Cyriac, came under the control of IMG, and the Cincinnati tournament, owned by the American Tennis Association and Octagon, was sold to the financial company Beemok Capital, and the transaction amounts in both cases were hundreds of millions of dollars.

– Judging by the great spectator interest, which this year caused the final stage of the Davis Cup in Malaga, did the ITF still manage to find the optimal format for it?

– Yes. From the third attempt (the formula for the Davis Cup was changed in 2019, and the tournament was not held in 2020 due to the pandemic.— “b”) was found the most reasonable option, in which eight teams reveal the strongest in the play-off system. Still, 16 teams gathered in one place is a bit too much. And when one match is played at a tournament every day, spectator interest is inevitably focused on it, especially if each team brings a sufficient number of its fans. It is no coincidence that every day ten-thousand stands were filled almost to capacity. I note that Malaga, a city that combines tradition and modernity, by all accounts, turned out to be a very good place to host the tournament. This was confirmed by the leadership of the Asia-Pacific Region, which was present there almost in its entirety. Among the national federations and players who were ambivalent about the new Davis Cup formula, a certain consensus seems to have developed on this issue as well.