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68-616: It was founded by players who had previously been members of the Association of Tennis Professionals Players Council. Members of the PTPA include Novak Djokovic, the outgoing president of the Council, and Vasek Pospisil. The pair will initially serve as co-presidents of the PTPA for a two-year period. The PTPA is governed by a board of trustees of nine members, to be elected annually. As the ATP

136-658: A better future for women's tennis. The WTA's corporate headquarters is in St. Petersburg, Florida , with its European headquarters in London and its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Beijing. The Women's Tennis Association was founded in June 1973 by Billie Jean King , and traces its origins to the inaugural Virginia Slims tournament, arranged by Gladys Heldman , sponsored by Joe Cullman , CEO of Philip Morris, and held on 23 September 1970 at

204-463: A document that the goal of their organization was "not to replace" the ATP but to "provide players with a self-governance structure that is independent from the ATP and is directly responsive to player-members needs and concerns". The concept for the PTPA began in 2019, when Vasek Pospisil and Novak Djokovic found they shared a perception of shortcomings on how the ATP protected the interest of its players. Across 2020, they aimed to form and consolidate

272-926: A level below the ATP Tour, and the ATP Champions Tour for seniors. Grand Slam tournaments, a small portion of the Olympic tennis tournament , the Davis Cup , the Hopman Cup and the introductory level Futures tournaments do not fall under the auspices of the ATP, but are overseen by the ITF instead and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the Olympics. In these events, however, ATP ranking points are still awarded, with

340-564: A movement, and it was formally founded as a non-profit in Canada in 2021, with the aim to "create transparency and fairness throughout decision-making in professional tennis", with membership being open to both men and women ranked in the top 350 in singles and/or top 150 in doubles. The initial announcement and launch of the PTPA was done at the US Open on August 29, 2020. The announcement was posted on Vasek Pospisil's Twitter account and included

408-889: A picture of the members standing on the court in masks with the caption, "After today's successful meeting, we are excited to announce the beginning of the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA). The first player only association in tennis since 1972. #PTPA". After the initial launch there was not much movement, however on June 22, 2021 the PTPA released a formal press release on their official Twitter account announcing their advisory board and public communications firm, ANACHEL Communications Inc. , as well as their website and social channels. They also launched their own website, www.ptpaplayers.com , which includes their mission and value statements , list of advisory board members , player stories , and an FAQ page to answer all questions those may have about

476-534: A players' only union or body. Former world number 1, Andy Roddick , tweeted on 29 August in response to the news, "It's almost like someone should have said something a decade ago". Roddick has called for a players union as far back as 2011. In November 2020, after a refusal of the ATP to allow Djokovic and Pospisil to return to the ATP player council, they were said to have been nominated by their peers, Pospisil gave an interview to tennis.com podcast, to clarify why they accepted their nomination, and argued further about

544-507: A prize pot 10 times lower than the men at the Grand Slams in 1970 to parity in 2007 and ever since, women's tennis has become (almost) the equal of its male counterpart. And they did it themselves, which also explains why their governance is still independent today." The WTA was founded at a meeting organised by Billie Jean King, a week before the 1973 Wimbledon Championships . This meeting was held at Gloucester Hotel in London. In 1975,

612-454: A single package, reaching large audiences around the world. "The '80s energized the popularity base, taking tennis out of country clubs and landed estates into public parks and arenas. It became a sport, in contrast to an amenable pastime." "From those first steps in Houston in 1970 to the current WTA Tour, with tournaments in 33 countries and total prize money of $ 139 million (in 2018); from

680-416: A single season. In 2013 Serena Williams went over the twelve million dollar mark, winning $ 12,385,572 in a single year. American sports entrepreneur Jerry Diamond (1928–1996) served as executive director of the women's association from 1974 to 1985. He was instrumental in negotiating business deals with Avon, Colgate-Palmolive, and Toyota, and worked out the deal that made Virginia Slims the titular sponsor of

748-596: A total of nine members, of which there are three representatives each from the Europe, Americas and the International Group of tournaments. Women%27s Tennis Association The Women's Tennis Association ( WTA ) is the principal organizing body of women's professional tennis . The association governs the WTA Tour , which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women, and was founded to create

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816-529: A total of up to 500 points. Players accumulate points over the four rounds and the playoffs and these are counted as one of a player's four best results from the 500 level events. An additional 125 points are given to a player who wins all 8 live rubbers and wins the Davis Cup. The ATP Tour comprises ATP Masters 1000 , ATP 500 , and ATP 250 . The ATP also oversees the ATP Challenger Tour ,

884-579: Is based in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida ; ATP Europe is headquartered in Monaco ; and ATP International, which covers Africa, Asia and Australasia, is based in Sydney , Australia . Launched in 1972 by Jack Kramer , Donald Dell , and Cliff Drysdale , it was first managed by Jack Kramer , as executive director, and Cliff Drysdale , as president. Jim McManus was a founding member. Kramer created

952-537: Is the governing body of the men's professional tennis circuits – the ATP Tour , the ATP Challenger Tour and the ATP Champions Tour . It was formed in September 1972 by Donald Dell , Jack Kramer , and Cliff Drysdale to protect the interests of professional tennis players , and Drysdale became the first president. Since 1990 the association has organized the ATP Tour, the worldwide tennis tour for men and linked

1020-504: Is the representative of both players and tournaments, a greater degree of autonomy for players is sought by the members of the PTPA. According to proponents of the new association, the current structure makes having decisions in the best interests of the players difficult, given the conflicting and complex interests of tournaments, Grand Slam bodies and the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The PTPA said in

1088-533: Is very hard." In 1984, The Australian Open joined the US Open in offering women equal prize money, but temporarily did not between 1996 and 2000. After a 30-year campaign, 2007 marked the historic achievement of equal prize money at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. This meant all four major tournaments offered parity. In 1995, the WTA Players Association merged with the Women's Tennis Council to form

1156-452: The 1973 Wimbledon Championships . Three ATP players, Ilie Năstase , Roger Taylor and Ray Keldie , defied the boycott and were fined by the ATP's disciplinary committee. But the tour was still run by the tournament directors and the ITF. The limited player representation and influence within the Men's International Professional Tennis Council (MIPTC) as well as dissatisfaction with the way

1224-655: The ATP Finals , moved from Shanghai to London. Hamburg has been displaced by the new clay court event at Madrid, which is a new combined men's and women's tournament. In 2011, Rome and Cincinnati also became combined tournaments. Severe sanctions are placed on top players skipping the Masters 1000 series events, unless medical proof is presented. Plans to eliminate Monte Carlo and Hamburg as Masters Series events led to controversy and protests from players as well as organisers. Hamburg and Monte Carlo filed lawsuits against

1292-739: The Avon Championships , in the WTA tennis history. The Colgate Series , renamed the Toyota Series in 1981, included tournaments in all parts of the world, whereas the Avon sponsored events took place solely in the US. The two circuits merged beginning with the 1983 season , when Virginia Slims returned to take full sponsorship rights of the WTA Tour. Every tournament under the administration of

1360-517: The Paris Masters will qualify for the ATP Finals . At the beginning of the 2009 season, all accumulated ranking points were doubled to bring them in line with the new tournament ranking system. [ vedit   · edit source ] [ vedit   · edit source ] As of January 1, 2020, Andrea Gaudenzi is the Chairman of ATP and Massimo Calvelli is

1428-470: The Wimbledon tournament of its world ranking points over the tournament's decision to decline entries from Russian and Belarusian players . The UK Culture Secretary , Nadine Dorries , commented that the ATP's decision would send the "completely wrong message to both Putin and the people of Ukraine". CEO Hamilton Jordan is credited with the "Parking Lot Press Conference" on 26 August 1988 during which

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1496-522: The ATP announced their withdrawal from the MIPTC (then called the MTC) and the creation of their own tour from 1990 onwards. This re-organisation also ended a lawsuit with Volvo and Donald Dell . On 19 January 1989 the ATP published the calendar for the inaugural 1990 season. By 1991, the men had their first television package to broadcast 19 tournaments. Coming online with their first website in 1995, this

1564-709: The ATP, and as a concession it was decided that Monte Carlo would remain a Masters 1000 level event, with more prize money and 1000 ranking points, but it would no longer be a compulsory tournament for top-ranked players. Monte Carlo later dropped its suit. Hamburg was "reserved" to become a 500 level event in the summer. Hamburg did not accept this concession, but later lost its suit. The 500 level tournaments are Rotterdam , Dubai , Rio , Acapulco , Barcelona , Aegon Championships (Queens Club, London), Halle (Gerry Weber Open), Hamburg , Washington , Beijing , Tokyo , Basel and Vienna . The ATP & ITF have declared that Davis Cup World Group and World Group Playoffs award

1632-458: The ATP, the WTA , the four Grand Slam tournaments and the ITF released a statement in support of the ATP and said that "It is a time for even greater collaboration, not division; a time to consider and act in the best interests of the sport, now and for the future...When we work together, we are a stronger sport". The PTPA has drawn the opposition of players including Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer ,

1700-714: The Board of Directors, which has the power to accept or reject the council's suggestions. As of 2024, the Council consists of a President ( Matthew Ebden ), a Vice President ( Andrey Rublev ), three players who are ranked within the top 50 in singles ( Grigor Dimitrov , Alexander Zverev and Mackenzie McDonald ), two players who are ranked between 51 and 100 in singles ( Pedro Martínez and Dušan Lajović ), two top 100 players in doubles ( Wesley Koolhof and Miguel Ángel Reyes-Varela ), one at-large member ( Pedro Cachin ), one alumni member ( Nicolás Pereira ), and one coach (Federico Ricci). The ATP Tournament Advisory Council consists of

1768-610: The Chinese government, the WTA under Steve Simon suspended its operations in China and Hong Kong. The boycott was lifted in 2023 after 16 months, citing financial losses due to the suspension of operations in China as well as the COVID-19 pandemic . In March 2022, medical technology firm Hologic reached an agreement to become title sponsor and "official health partner" of the WTA Tour, marking its first title sponsorship agreement since

1836-590: The Houston Racquet Club in Houston , Texas. Rosie Casals won this first event. When the Women's Tennis Association was founded, Billie Jean King was one of nine players that comprised the WTA, also referred to as the Original 9, that included Julie Heldman , Valerie Ziegenfuss , Judy Dalton , Kristy Pigeon , Peaches Bartkowicz , Kerry Melville Reid , Nancy Richey , and Rosie Casals . Today,

1904-581: The ILTF sanctioned 15 men-only tournaments, all of which had previously been combined events. The Virginia Slims Circuit , which would later absorb the ILTF's Women's Grand Prix circuit, and eventually become the WTA Tour. The circuit was composed of 19 tournaments, all based in the United States (one in Puerto Rico ), and prize money totalled $ 309,100. In 1973 the US Open tennis tournament became

1972-532: The MIPTC introduce a drug testing rule, making tennis the first professional sport to institute a drug-testing program. In May 1973 Nikola Pilić , Yugoslavia's number one tennis player, was suspended by his national lawn tennis association, who claimed he had refused to play in a Davis Cup tie for his country earlier that month. The initial suspension of nine months, supported by the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF) ,

2040-438: The PTPA has been widespread since the launch by both current and former players around the globe. A year after its foundation, it had over 500 members. American tennis players John Isner and Ryan Harrison have voiced their support on Twitter and have identified as members of the association. Top 30 players such as Hubert Hurkacz , Reilly Opelka , and Pablo Carreno Busta have done the same. Support from former players in

2108-750: The US Eastern Grass Court circuit with stops at Merion Cricket Club and Essex county club. There were two professional tennis circuits in existence at the start of the Open Era: World Championship Tennis (WCT), which was for men only, and the National Tennis League (NTL). Ann Jones , Rosie Casals , Françoise Dürr , and Billie Jean King joined NTL. King was paid $ 40,000 a year, Jones was paid $ 25,000, and Casals and Durr were paid $ 20,000 each. The group played established tournaments, such as

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2176-698: The US Open and Wimbledon. But the group also organised their own tournaments, playing in the South of France for two months. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) then imposed several sanctions on the group: the women were not allowed to play in the Wightman Cup in 1968 and 1969 and the USLTA refused to include Casals and King in their rankings for those years. By the 1970s the pay differential had increased. King said "Promoters were making more money than women. Male tennis players were making more money. Everybody

2244-484: The US Open. The 1970 Houston Women's Invitation for nine women players was formed. Heldman was friends with Joseph Cullman, CEO and chairman of Phillip Morris, who secured the new tournament. The tournament was a success and the women found footing, "so, at the bidding of the Original 9, Heldman – who had secured backing from Philip Morris's Virginia Slims cigarette brand for her Houston Invitational – went back to her friend, Philip Morris chairman Joe Cullman III, to see if

2312-589: The WTA Tour. The WTA circuit continued to expand during these years. In 1971, King became the first female athlete to surpass $ 100,000 in earnings for a single year. Chris Evert became the first female athlete to win over $ 1,000,000 in career earnings in 1976. By 1980, over 250 women were playing professionally, and the circuit consisted of 47 global events, offering a total of $ 7.2 million in prize money. These increased financial opportunities allowed for groundbreaking developments not only in tennis, but across women's sports. In 1982, Martina Navratilova became

2380-599: The WTA has more than 2,500 players from nearly 100 countries competing for $ 146 million in prize money. Tennis's Open Era , in which professional players were allowed to compete alongside amateurs, began in 1968. Billie Jean King was a high ranking tennis player in the late 1960s who won several titles and was interviewed in the media. The first Open Tournament was the British Hard Court Championships in Bournemouth . Later that year at

2448-414: The WTA increased its financial stature by signing a television broadcast contract with CBS , the first in the WTA's history. Further financial developments ensued. In 1976, Colgate assumed sponsorship of the circuit from April to November. In 1979, Avon replaced Virginia Slims as the sponsor of the winter circuit, and in its first year offered the largest prize fund for a single tournament, $ 100,000 for

2516-787: The WTA now became part of the Virginia Slims World Championships Series . In all, Virginia Slims (Philip Morris) sponsored women's tennis from 1970 to 1978 and again from 1983 to 1994. The sponsored has received such criticism as the following from the Stanford [University] Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising: "Virginia Slims cleverly sponsored the WTA Tour Championships at the time to increase connections between cigarettes and healthy female athletes." In 1977, women's tennis

2584-606: The WTA tour. Larry Scott became chairman and CEO of the WTA on 16 April 2003. While at the WTA, Scott put together the largest sponsorship in the history of women's sports, a six-year, $ 88 million sponsorship deal with Sony Ericsson . On 24 March 2009, Scott announced that he was resigning as WTA chief to take up a new position as the commissioner of the Pac-10 Conference , on 1 July 2009. Scott pointed to Korn Ferry to headhunt his replacement but "with no decision made" on 13 July 2009, WTA Tour announced

2652-570: The appointment of Stacey Allaster, the Tour's president since 2006, as the new chairman and CEO of the WTA. Allaster was named as one of the "Most Powerful Women in Sports" by Forbes Magazine and led the WTA through significant growth and under her leadership, she secured a media agreement that would maximise fan exposure to women's tennis globally. During her time with the WTA, she generated an estimated $ 1 billion in diversified contract revenues, built

2720-457: The association. The official launch of the PTPA was concluded with a global press conference that included the founders of the association, Vasek Pospisil and Novak Djokovic , the executive director of the PTPA, Adam Larry, and CEO of ANACHEL Communications Inc., Carrie Gerlach Cecil . The press conference was opened to all tennis writers around the world and was livestreamed on YouTube for all to see. Milos Raonic stated his intention to join

2788-541: The brand globally, and was a strong advocate for gender equality. She announced her retirement as chief executive of the WTA on 22 September 2015 citing a personal change in priorities. On 5 October 2015, Steve Simon , the Tournament Director of the BNP Paribas Open , was announced to succeed Stacey as the new WTA chairman and CEO. In December 2021, following Peng Shuai 's disappearance by

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2856-815: The chief executive officer. Mark Young is the Vice Chairman, David Massey is the Executive Vice President for the European region and Alison Lee for the International group. The ATP Board of Directors includes the chairman, along with three tournament representatives and three player representatives. The player representatives are elected by the ATP Player Council. The current board members are: The twelve-member ATP Player Advisory Council delivers advisory decisions to

2924-517: The company would support a circuit of some kind. Delighted by the publicity splash from Houston, Cullman was only too keen to give the women what they needed: financial backing, to the tune of a quarter of a million dollars, and the Virginia Slims name as title sponsor for a circuit in 1971." The International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF) began dropping several women's competitions from the tournaments it presided over. For example, in 1970,

2992-459: The dark by our leadership for six months. We were disappointed with many things. I voiced my opinion on many things, such as ... executives in other sports taking pay cuts to support us. As tennis players, we weren’t making a dime for months and months. ... Lower guys weren’t making a dime," Raonic said. "But our executives were staying home and didn’t feel it necessary to take any pay cuts. I pushed for that on every single phone call we had". Gaudenzi

3060-421: The downside and difficulties faced by touring tennis pros, not unlike the problems of traveling musicians performing a whole series of tour dates and gigs. The article included the phrase "comradeship that falls short of camaraderie", because fellow members were also competitors who usually felt they needed to maintain a certain amount of distance. One player was quoted as saying, "But if you are not playing well, it

3128-481: The exception of the Olympics and Hopman Cup. The four-week ITF Satellite tournaments were discontinued in 2007. Players and doubles teams with the most ranking points (collected during the calendar year) play in the season-ending ATP Finals , which, from 2000 to 2008, was run jointly with the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The details of the professional tennis tour are: ATP publishes weekly rankings of professional players: ATP rankings (commonly known as

3196-614: The exception of those for the ATP Finals , whose points are dropped following the last ATP event of the year. The player with the most points by the season's end is the world No. 1 of the year. The ATP rankings Race to Turin is a calendar-year indicator of what the PIF ATP Rankings will be on the Monday after the end of the regular season. Players finishing in the top eight of the Emirates ATP Rankings following

3264-487: The expiration of the previous Sony Ericsson deal. In 2024, the WTA made all WTA 1000 events mandatory. The WTA Elite Trophy did not return: WTA 125 tournaments (30) events Since 2012 (number of events varies each year; in 2018 there were ten tournaments: four in United States, two in China and one each in Croatia, France, India and Taiwan), with prize money for the four events in United States at US$ 150,000 and at

3332-558: The first Grand Slam tournament to award the same prize money for women as men. The Australian Open would become the second Grand Slam offering equal prize money following suit in 1985 although the tournament awarded men more money from 1996 to 2000 before equal prize money returned in 2001. The French Open offered equal prize money for champions in 2006. In 2007 both Wimbledon and the French Open both offered equal prize money. The WTA Tour sold television rights of all its tournaments as

3400-421: The first Open Wimbledon, the prize fund difference was 2.5:1 in favor of men. King won £750 for taking the title, while Rod Laver won £2,000. The total purses of both competitions were £14,800 for men and £5,680 for women. Confusion also reigned as no one knew how many Open Tournaments there were supposed to be. The tournaments that did not want to provide prize money eventually faded out of the calendar, including

3468-404: The first time. This enabled Justine Henin , who won the French Open in 2007, to earn over $ 5 million that year, becoming the first woman in sports to do this. In 2009, Serena Williams went over the six million mark by earning over $ 6.5 million in a single year. Then in 2012 both Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka became the first players to exceed $ 7 million in prize money in

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3536-485: The first to win over $ 1,000,000 in a single year. Navratilova's single year earnings exceeded $ 2 million in 1984. In 1997, Martina Hingis became the first to earn over $ 3 million during a single year. In 2003, Kim Clijsters surpassed $ 4 million in earnings for a single year. In 2006, Venus Williams and the WTA pushed for equal prize money at both the French Open and Wimbledon . Both of these Grand Slam events relented in 2007 and awarded equal money for

3604-448: The former writing on Twitter: "It is time for unity, not for separation. These are moments where big things can be achieved as long as the world of tennis is united". Andy Murray meanwhile argued that while he is "not totally against a player union", the WTA should be on its board and the current ATP management "should be given some time to implement their vision". This is not the first time that professional tennis players have called for

3672-588: The group: Raonic has expressed his displeasure with Andrea Gaudenzi , the chairman of the ATP on the body's handling of the COVID crisis. Speaking after his semifinal win at the Cincinnati Masters held in New York due to the pandemic, Raonic said: "Players have had plenty of time to think and reflect and take a look at certain parts which they may not be happy with and discuss...A lot of us were kept in

3740-407: The need for the new association: "We basically don't have any information and the tournaments don't need to provide anything and don't need to be transparent at all," he says. "And that's not a business partnership. And especially when we're the product, where people come in and pay money to watch the players play. It's nothing confrontational. We're not here to be confrontational at all." Support of

3808-460: The other events at around US$ 125,000. Ranking points are also available at tournaments on the ITF Women's Circuit organized by the International Tennis Federation , which comprises several hundred tournaments each year with prize funds ranging from US$ 15,000 to US$ 100,000. The Players' Council is a group or sub-committee under the WTA board of directors, consisting of eight selected players on

3876-466: The professional players' rankings system , which started the following year and is still in use. From 1974 to 1989, the men's circuit was administered by a sub-committee called the Men's International Professional Tennis Council (MIPTC) . It was made up of representatives of the International Tennis Federation (ITF), the ATP, and tournament directors from around the world. The ATP successfully requested that

3944-474: The sport was managed and marketed culminated in a player mutiny in 1988 led by active tennis pros, including then world number one ranked Mats Wilander which changed the entire structure of the tour. In reaction to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine , the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) moved the 2022 St. Petersburg Open from Saint Petersburg to Kazakhstan . In May 2022, the ATP stripped

4012-484: The tennis world stems from Paul McNamee , Mats Wilander , and Patrick McEnroe . Denis Shapovalov has also voiced his support of the association. In August 2022, the PTPA announced former CEO of OneTeam Partners, Ahmad Nassar, as its Executive Director. In January 2023, the following players were announced to be part of the association's inaugural Player Executive Committee: Association of Tennis Professionals The Association of Tennis Professionals ( ATP )

4080-669: The title of the tour with the organization's name. It is the governing body of men's professional tennis. In 1990 the organization was called the ATP Tour, which was renamed in 2001 as just ATP and the tour being called ATP Tour. In 2009 the name of the tour was changed again and was known as the ATP World Tour, but changed again to the ATP Tour by 2019. It is an evolution of the tour competitions previously known as Grand Prix tennis tournaments and World Championship Tennis (WCT). The ATP's global headquarters are in London . ATP Americas

4148-555: The top 9 woman tennis players to take a stand for equality. "These woman became known as the Original 9". They did not play in the Los Angeles tournament and instead wanted to create their own tennis tournament. Several female players contacted Gladys Heldman , publisher of World Tennis Magazine , and stated that they wanted to boycott the event. Although Heldman advised against it, she did help them put together their own tournament in Houston which would not take place until after

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4216-446: The tournaments, and because many of them were former players themselves, their sympathies lay with the male players, who argued vociferously that most of the money should be theirs." The low point in women's pay inequality came before the US Open in 1970. The Pacific Southwest Championships directed by Jack Kramer , had announced a 12:1 ratio in the prize money difference between what males and females would win. This tournament provoked

4284-457: The ‘world rankings’), a 52-week rolling ranking, and the ATP Race to Turin , a year to date ranking. All ATP players also have a Universal Tennis Rating , based on head-to-head results. The ATP rankings is used for determining qualification for entry and seeding in all tournaments for both singles and doubles. Within the ATP rankings period which is the past year, points are accumulated with

4352-626: Was critical of the PTPA and said that "You have what other athletes in other sports would strive for — a seat at the boardroom table. That is what players fought for in the creation of the ATP Tour...It makes no sense why you would be better served by shifting your role from the inside to the outside of the governance structure". Pospisil said in a statement that it was "very difficult, if not impossible, to have any significant impact on any major decisions made by our tour" and that "Our voices will finally be heard and we will soon have an impact on decisions that affect our lives and livelihoods". In response,

4420-789: Was followed by a multi-year agreement with Mercedes-Benz. Lawsuits in 2008, around virtually the same issues, resulted in a restructured tour. In 2009, ATP introduced a new tour structure called ATP World Tour consisting of ATP World Tour Masters 1000, ATP World Tour 500, and ATP World Tour 250 tier tournaments. Broadly speaking, the Tennis Masters Series tournaments became the new Masters 1000 level and ATP International Series Gold and ATP International Series events became ATP 500 level and 250 level events respectively. The Masters 1000 tournaments are Indian Wells , Miami , Monte Carlo , Madrid , Rome , Toronto/Montreal , Cincinnati , Shanghai and Paris . The end-of-year event,

4488-433: Was later reduced by the ILTF to one month which meant that Pilic would not be allowed to play at Wimbledon. In response, the ATP threatened a boycott, stating that if Pilić was not allowed to compete, none should. After last-ditch attempts at a compromise failed, the ATP voted in favor of a boycott and as a result, 81 of the top players, including reigning champion Stan Smith and 13 of the 16 men's seeds, did not compete at

4556-407: Was making more money except the women ". In 1969, ratios of 5:1 in terms of pay between men and women were common at smaller tournaments. By 1970 these figures had increased to up to 12:1. Billie Jean King and Cynthia Starr wrote in their book, We Have Come a Long Way , in 1988, "The women were being squeezed financially because we had no control in a male-dominated sport. Men owned, ran and promoted

4624-497: Was the first professional sport opened to transgender women. The New York Supreme Court ruled in favour of Renée Richards , a player who underwent male-to-female sex reassignment surgery . Eligibility of transgender players is officially regulated under the current WTA official rulebook. In April 1977, the Washington Post published an article entitled "Social Variety Is Slim on Women's Tennis Tour" which looked at some of

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