It’s time for Federer to retire, and the WTA and ATP should merge

The difficult past year is affecting this year as well. The pandemic has not receded, the vaccine has not yet reached everyone, and in the near future, assistance around the world will come unevenly. In most sports, the season is still set to save. The tennis world can do this with its own characteristics.

Divide the calendar into clusters

First of all, it would be more expedient to synchronize the female and male calendars in general. Each sporting event of world importance is a burden on local services, flights, control over arriving athletes, coaches. Yes, even by the fans – where the bans are softer, there will be attempts by fans to travel.

Tournaments should be brought together on a geographical basis: athletes can play in one region for several weeks, then moving to another. Yes, “not only in one” – there can be 2-3 such clusters, but logically connected with tournaments within each. This will allow the pandemic to be controlled within “security bubbles”. Reduce the time spent on quarantine and other logistical problems.

Quarantine is the same for everyone

There should be no advantage for individual athletes. If the conditions of one allow training in the open air, the same should apply to rivals. This issue has escalated after a number of tennis players were outraged by the different “quarantine” in Australia for top players and everyone else. If there is an exhibition tournament for the tops at this time, do something similar for the lower ranked players.

At the same time, the quarantine itself cannot be violated if this is provided for by the order of the government of the host state. All athletes must clearly remember that the law is the same for everyone, and local residents decide what is best for their country.

Majors should help smaller tournaments

An interesting feature of AO is holding qualifications in Dubai and Doha. This is a chance to save low ranked tournaments around the world. Majors can “provide” a wild card for the winners of some minor competitions, as well as conduct qualification at their expense. The lost share of prize and sponsorship payments will have little effect on the conditional Wimbledon, but it will save a number of other tournaments.

Federer and Williams may retire this year

Of course, none of them have hinted at this yet, but the situation is pushing. They have been in tennis for over 20 years. We won everything we wanted. Yes, they continue to enjoy the game and, most importantly, show top results. But this year is an opportunity to leave with your head held high.

Roger still has a chance to win another Wimbledon. But we must be honest, there he is no longer the main contender. At other tournaments, it will be difficult for him to cope with the new wave (Tsitsipas, Medvedev, Tim). Injuries and age are forcing the Swiss to remove tournaments from the schedule, where his chances of success are low.

This year, he can heal his knee, perform fresh in London, and then play in Tokyo. Carry the country’s flag at the Olympics. And once again compete for a medal.

It’s all about Serena. Athletes of this caliber decide for themselves when this “enough” comes. It would be unfair if they stopped their careers during the lockdown. Not some kind of coronavirus, but they themselves make decisions.

This summer, Wimbledon, the Olympics and the US Open should play tightly. If someone was waiting for a bright sign for a beautiful finale, here it is.

Marta Kostyuk will become the second racket of Ukraine

Unfortunately, due to the loss of points by Dayana Yastremskaya. As much as I would not like a positive decision of the sports court, suspension for a certain period is the most likely outcome of her case. But Martha should move up the rankings regardless of Diana’s points.

Kostyuk is already consistently successfully playing with rivals of “his level”. In quotation marks – because this is a relative concept, and in terms of the game, Martha deserves a place much higher. She still has gaps – active exits to the grid often lead to strokes that Kostyuk loses. On the back line, I would also like more stability, and sometimes more variability. However, these are growth problems and mistakes that you can learn from.

The main plus for Marta in the current situation is that she spends less time and effort on qualifications and weak opponents. Endurance will come with age, after a while, but now you can spend energy in those matches where there is really a chance to earn points. It is very optimistic to demand that Kostyuk achieve the result of Yastremskaya (29th line) in a year, but the top 50 is already quite within her power.

If Dayana’s case is resolved successfully, this year we will have a third high-level tennis player.

ATP and WTA should finally team up

The fragmentation of tennis into several governing bodies is a vestige of the old days. Even the Grand Slam tournaments (which influence world tennis no less than the associations themselves) value the commercial benefits of women’s and men’s competitions equally. The position of the sponsors is unequivocal – competitions should be evaluated equally.

The popularity of women’s or men’s tennis differs in different countries – depending on the success of individual athletes. But in general, women’s tennis is popular in the world, and the players are well-known. Don’t get hung up on absolute numbers. Yes, men’s tournaments in general attract large audiences and large sponsorship contracts. But any sports manufacturer will see only a huge market here, which has not yet been covered and which should be developed.

Now men’s and women’s tournaments have different classifications, points are awarded differently. Even for winning Grand Slam tournaments, women receive fewer points than men. This is nonsense, how can you rate the winners differently in their categories?

The time has come. The idea of ​​​​unification is supported by athletes (in particular, the same Nadal and Federer). Sponsors are definitely ready for this. And the world is ready for it. It’s just a matter of finally reaching an agreement. Roger Federer and Serena Williams – why not the first leaders of the new single tour?