Simona Halep’s coach, Darren Cahill, believes the potential ATP-WTA merger would simplify the sport.
Earlier in the week it was stars such as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, who backed the idea to merge the ATP World Tour and WTA World Tour together.
WTA players such as Belinda Bencic, Petra Kvitová and Garbine Muguruza have backed the move as tennis looks to be more unified in post-Coronavirus times.
However there are some criticisms of the idea with Nick Kyrgios being the biggest leader against the potential move between the two organisations.
Speaking to the National, WTA tour coach Darren Cahill has spoke positively of the idea saying that it would simplify the sport, “This leads us more towards a commissioner in tennis,” Cahill said to the National.
“Let’s say hypothetically the four Slams remain as they are, but then you have the ATP, the WTA and the ITF all rolled into one, and that means you can appoint a commissioner of tennis that oversees the men’s and women’s tours, Fed Cup, Davis Cup, the Olympics and also the smaller events that are under the ITF and also under the WTA. That person and that organisation would have enormous power.
“And I think, hypothetically, it would be a pretty good position for a tennis player to be in, because you know that every single decision being made is made in the best interest of the game.
“Even for us that live on the WTA Tour, it’s not easy to understand how the Tour works, whereas the men’s Tour is much easier. We know your 1000s, the 500s, the 250s and how the rankings work, it’s much more complicated on the women’s tour, so this would simplify everything.”
There is truth to Cahill’s arguments with the demographic of tennis fans seeming to get older, with a lack of simplification turning young tennis fans away.
However the suggested move will not be easy to execute and will take time as issues such as equal scheduling, prize money distribution and media are some of the many obstacles facing both parties.
Would the ATP be willing to lose some of its money and power for a merger with the WTA, who will be looking to increase prize money?
Only time will tell but for now the more support this merger gets, the better it looks for tennis in its bid for unification.
