Roger Federer is recovering from his knee injury and during this Coronavirus pandemic, he is supposed to stay low under the radar to rest. Nevertheless, the Swiss sensation is hitting the headlines for all sorts of (good things). Besides launching his challenges on social media, he also entertained the fans with a tasty video chat with his great friend and nemesis Rafael Nadal. The former world no.1 has now launched an interesting idea: merging the ATP and the WTA tours.
The background
The ATP and the WTA are 2 different organizations that sometimes have clashes. This Coronavirus outbreak has been devastating for tennis that had to be halted. However, there was a silver lining in the fact that the ATP and the WTA reacted together in a very constructive way. In the beginning, they announced the freeze of their tours independently, then their statements started to come with joint press releases.
Andrea Gaudenzi, the president of the ATP, likes the idea of join forces and Roger Federer went a step further on Wednesday to put this idea forward on social media to say:
“Just wondering…..am I the only one thinking that now is the time for men’s and women’s tennis to be united and come together as one?
I am picturing a merger between the WTA and ATP. I am not talking about merging competition on the court, but merging the 2 governing bodies (ATP and WTA) that oversee the men’s and women’s professional tours….
It probably should have happened a long time ago, but maybe now is really the time. These are tough times in every sport and we can come out of this with 2 weakened bodies or 1 stronger body.”
Just wondering…..am I the only one thinking that now is the time for men’s and women’s tennis to be united and come together as one?
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) April 22, 2020
I am picturing a merger between the WTA and ATP 🤝 https://t.co/qB7oGEhikN
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) April 22, 2020
I am not talking about merging competition on the court, but merging the 2 governing bodies (ATP and WTA) that oversee the men’s and women’s professional tours….
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) April 22, 2020
I agree with you, It’s too confusing for the fans when there are different ranking systems, different logos, different websites, different tournament categories. https://t.co/zX4XTr9Rr0
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) April 22, 2020
It probably should have happened a long time ago, but maybe now is really the time.
These are tough times in every sport and we can come out of this with 2 weakened bodies or 1 stronger body. https://t.co/30SbbAla5g— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) April 22, 2020
Roger Federer’s ranking and performance in 2020
Ranked no.4, the Swiss played his last match on the 30th of January when he lost to Novak Djokovic 7-61 6-4 6-3 in the semifinal of the Australian Open.
Roger Federer’s most significant result of the present year was getting to the semi-finals at the Australian Open.
