The news, which would seem incredible, was launched 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 LTA, the British organization that promotes and organizes all lawn tennis tournaments.
The choice of a confrontation between the three sides is harmful for all. The image of tennis would come out badly. 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 sort 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 tournaments in program in the UK this year. Given the independent organization of Wimbledon (like the rest of the Grand Slams), the move would be to eliminate grass training events such as Queen’s, Eastbourne, Birmingham and Nottingham from the year schedule.
A threat, to all intents and purposes, which is opening a very interesting case and on which several enthusiasts are awaiting developments and news. An insider of the LTA expressed himself by stating: “The organization faces an existential threat if the tournaments on grass courts are not played,” these are the words reported by The Guardian, which then highlighted the mainly financial damages to which it could concretely to reach out to.
Losing the rights to the competitions, which are watched by around 180,000 spectators each year, would leave the LTA facing a £20m reduction in its finances. In 2019, the last year before the pandemic, the Lawn Tennis Association earned £14.6m from ticket sales and over £6m in commercial revenue.
This amounted to almost 30% of his income, most of which was reinvested in the sport. The problems would also affect Wimbledon, given that the heavy decision (should it actually materialize) would drastically reduce tournaments in the United Kingdom, thus reducing tennis visibility in the country.
The choice 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 among including Elina Svitolina and Marta Kostyuk, but also strong disappointment for example of Andrey Rublev. For the occasion, ATP and WTA did not give weight to the London Grand Slam as regards the ranking.
