The Citi Open also known as the Washington Open is one of the most anticipated hard court events in the Tennis calendar
The Citi Open is set to merge with San Jose-based Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in a move which will see the WTA 250 event elevated to a WTA 500 one.
The proposal is still pending approval and if accepted, Washington will have the green signal to host 500-level tournaments in both the ATP and WTA categories. The ATP tournament is already a ‘500’ one in Washington and the elevation of the WTA category will mean that more quality players will be attracted to the tournament as WTA 500 tournaments award more prize money and rankings points than 250-level tournaments.
The tournament chairman Mark Ein is confident about the merger and believes that the elevation of the WTA category will be a huge boost to the tournament. “The D.C. community loves tennis in general, and we’ve sold out every session for the last two years. So fans here have really embraced the tournament for a long time but particularly given all the upgrades and investment in fan experience we’ve made in recent years. A big part of that is our ability to showcase men and women at the same event, which is one of the things that makes tennis so unique”, he said in an interview.
The tournament will now be called the Mubadala Citi Open for sponsorship reasons and is set to be the only combined ATP-WTA 500 tournament on the tour schedule.
Will the WTA follow ATP’s footsteps and offer fixed salaries to the top players?
The ATP is planning to introduce the process of providing fixed salaries to the top players on the tour. While it’s great news for the male stars, WTA doesn’t have any such plan as of now and it remains to be seen if they follow the ATP’s footsteps in the near future.
Tennis is one of the most followed sports across the globe and it is no surprise that Tennis players are some of the highest-paid athletes in the world. Top tennis stars have several lucrative endorsement deals and sponsorships in their pocket and earn a lot by participating in various professional tournaments across the globe. However, they do not have a ‘fixed income’ and it could change very soon.
The apex governing body of men’s professional tennis – the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) are in advanced stages of discussion regarding the possibility of introducing fixed income for the top players on the ATP tour. They are likely to adopt the model of the PGA Tour (Golf) and provide guaranteed annual income to the top 250-300 ranked players. However, the ATP earns only about US$ 200 million a year, which is much less compared to the PGA Tour. Hence, if they have to pay the top 300 players, they won’t be able to do so without incurring initial losses. It remains to be seen how soon or if eventually the ATP manages to implement this system.
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