TENNIS BITS & PIECES – Serena Williams says she has “nothing to hide” regarding her mysterious illness at Wimbledon. Andy Murray is about to sign a new clothing contract, while Stanislas Wawrinka has just renewed his equipment and apparel deal. WTA CEO Stacey Allaster told the New York Times that the WTA is looking at launching a one-week national team event. Angelo Lo Conte
Serena Williams denies rumors surrounding Wimbledon exit
Serena Williams says she has “nothing to hide” regarding her mysterious illness at Wimbledon. Williams withdrew during a doubles match two days after her third-round defeat in singles to Alize Cornet. She was seen by doctors during the warm-up and hit four consecutive double faults before retiring. Speaking to Sports Illustrated, Serena said she had been in bed with flu-like symptoms for three days before the match, and described drug testers arriving at her Wimbledon apartment the following morning. Returning to competition at Stanford, Williams claimed she was unaware of the rumors—which ranged from drinking to drug use to pregnancy—surrounding her until later. She also said she did not know what the problem was, but planned to have medical tests during the offseason. “I have nothing to hide,” Serena said. “No, I didn’t take anything, I didn’t take drugs. I’m not on drugs. I’ve heard it all. I’m not pregnant, I wasn’t pregnant. Although I think a baby would be great, but there’s a time and place for everything.” The WTA No. 1 also indicated that, in retrospect, she should not have played the doubles match, but did so to avoid the appearance that she did not want to play following her singles defeat. She said: “I should have just taken that moment and said ‘Just stay in bed today”. Since Wimbledon, the No 1 in the world has played three events, reaching the semifinals of Montreal in between winning titles at Stanford and Cincinnati
Murray and Wawrinka’s 2014 endorsement deals
Andy Murray is about to sign a new clothing contract, while Stanislas Wawrinka has just renewed his equipment and apparel deal. The two Top 10 players are earning significantly more in endorsements than before.
Murray’s five-year, $37 million contract with Adidas is up for renewal this year. As Murray is now a two-time Grand Slam champion, a new deal could be worth double the previous amount, according to the publication.
Wawrinka has signed a $20 million deal with Yonex for four years, as reported by Sports Business Journal. It was described as the “most lucrative” endorsement the company has ever signed, covering racquet, clothing, and shoes.
WTA considering one-week national team event
WTA CEO Stacey Allaster told the New York Times that the WTA is looking at launching a one-week national team event. The new format would create a potential rival to the ITF’s annual Fed Cup event. Allaster explained the WTA was considering an eight-team event beginning in three years, with seven two-player teams qualifying based on the singles ranking of their No. 1 player, along with one wildcard team. The idea came from surveys of 5,000 tennis and non-tennis fans in five markets conducted during the first half of this year.
“What the marketplace has told us is that if we were to do this, they’d want it to be official,” she said. “They’d want it be the best of the best and regular competitive tennis. So maybe we would have no-ad scoring and some all-star type elements, but what came away clear for us is that they wanted bona fide best-of-the-best competition if they were to invest millions.” The suggestion follows recent conflict between the WTA and the ITF over Fed Cup commitments, with the WTA objecting to the ITF’s proposed move to require players to play four Fed Cup ties to be eligible for the Olympics. However, Allaster said the event was not supposed to replace Fed Cup, and that the ITF had not agreed to previous suggestions for a one-week event. “I don’t think this will impact them,” she said. “We can do Fed Cup, and this is possibly a new event we add.”
