The news, which would seem incredible, was released in the last few hours by the British newspaper The Guardian and confirms that there is a climate that is anything but calm between the ATP, WTA and the LTAthe British organization that promotes and organizes all lawn tennis tournaments.
The choice of a confrontation between the three sides is detrimental to all. The image of tennis would go bad. As well as the image of the repetitive guarantor bodies and some characters involved. According to the newspaper, the two Tours would have given a kind of ultimatum to the organizer regarding the ban on all Russian and Belarusian players from participating.
If what happened in the 2022 season were to repeat itself, the two associations would be ready to suspend all scheduled tournaments in the UK this year. Given the independent organization of Wimbledon (like the rest of the Grand Slams), the move would be to remove grass-court training events such as Queen’s, Eastbourne, Birmingham and Nottingham from the annual calendar.
A threat, for all intents and purposes, that is opening a very interesting case and about which several enthusiasts are waiting for news and news.. An LTA insider expressed himself by stating: «The organization faces an existential threat if tournaments on grass courts are not played», these are the words reported by The Guardian, which later highlighted the mainly economic damages to which it could specifically arrive. reach.
Losing rights to competitions, which are watched by around 180,000 viewers each year, would leave the LTA facing a £20m reduction in finances. In 2019, the last year before the pandemic, the Lawn Tennis Association earned £14.6m from ticket sales and over £6m in business revenue.
This amounted to nearly 30% of his income, most of which was reinvested in the sport.. The problems would also affect Wimbledon, as the strong decision (if completed) would drastically reduce tournaments in the UK, thus reducing the visibility of tennis in the country.
The election of the English government and the All England Club is expected in early April: last year the no to Russians and Belarusians, due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, found the support of Ukrainian players including Elina Svitolina and Marta Kostyuk, but also strong disappointment for example from Andrey Rublev. For the occasion, ATP and WTA did not give weight to the London Grand Slam in regards to the ranking.
