Steve Simon, the president of the women’s tennis circuit, has had to come out against claims by Kazakhstan Tennis Federation vice-president Yuri Polsy that the WTA was in danger of bankruptcy, by 2026 or 2027, if a merger with the ATP did not take place.

“The financial situation of the WTA is good and we are not considering a merger with the ATP. In fact, earlier this season we announced a $400 million raise for female tennis players over the next 10 years. We are the leading organization in women’s sport,” says Simon, in statements reported by Sport Poland.

Simon is currently in the city of Zhuhai where the Elite Trophy is being disputed between tennis players outside the ‘top8’.

According to MARCA, the two circuits will continue to work together for the good of tennis, but in no case there will be a merger in the near future.

More mixed tournaments

Leaders of the sport say that the trend of the new calendar is towards more mixed tournaments, which are the ones that generate the most income for both organizers and players.

Indian Wells, Miami, Mutua Madrid Open and Cincinnati are the 1,000 category events in which men and women coincide in dates, in addition to the four Grand Slams.

The WTA lost many millions of dollars with its veto of China due to the Shuai Peng case. Nine tournaments were organized there, including the women’s Masters in Shenzhen. Its official return was in September in Guangzhou.

Negotiations to move the Masters event to Saudi Arabia in 2023 had to be interrupted due to the refusal of some of the top players to play there. The event finally flew to Cancun (Mexico), from October 29 to November 5.