Save articles for later
Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.
The Australian Open would be one tournament on a premium tour in a proposed plan for tennis to replicate sports like Formula 1.
In what would be the calendar’s biggest shake-up in decades, the four grand slams – the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open – would partner with at least 10 other of the sport’s largest tournaments to create a premium tour for elite players.
The Australian Open could become one event on a premium tour.Credit: AP
As first reported in The Athletic, the four majors are attempting to forge a partnership to revamp the tour, which would take pressure off players due to playing demands, make the sport easier to follow for fans, and most importantly, head off a breakaway tour such as professional golf has experienced with the setting up of LIV Golf.
According to The Athletic, the idea is yet to be formally tabled with the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) or the men’s Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), but the intention is to have a proposal ready when the Australian Open kicks off in January.
“We all know that premium drives the business,” WTA chief executive Steve Simon told The Athletic.
Tennis Australia were contacted about the proposal on Wednesday but declined to comment.
Rafael Nadal competing at the United Cup earlier this year.Credit: AP
A premium tour could also protect the current schedule of lead-in events to the Australian Open by limiting changes to the calendar.
The ATP and WTA have discussed a top-tier tournament being held in Saudi Arabia in January 2025 in the lead-up to the Melbourne Park event. If this was to become part of the schedule it would severely damage Australia’s current Open lead-in as the money on offer and the travel would be far more attractive to the world’s top players.
Events such as the United Cup, which is held in Sydney and Perth, the Adelaide International and Hobart International, which are held in December and January and attract top-tier players like Rafael Nadal, Iga Swiatek and Stefanos Tsitsipas, would suffer most from a rival event in Saudi Arabia.
Some of the sport’s largest tournaments outside the grand slams, such as Masters and 1000 events like Indian Wells, Madrid and Rome, could be included in a new premium tour. A number of events extended their schedule in 2023 from one week to 12 days, which closer reflects the two-week format of the majors.
“We want to grow our premium product and that’s a fact that we’ve been very vocal about,” The Athletic quoted ATP chief executive Andrea Gaudenzi telling journalists two weeks ago. “For the sport, closing the gap between the Masters and the slams, is good for everybody. Now, there is a very big gap.”
If a premium tour was agreed upon, it would likely take years to come into effect as organisers and sponsors work to renegotiate deals and agree on the logistics of the tour.
Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
Most Viewed in Sport
From our partners
Source: Read Full Article
