With time, tennis has become one of the most popular sports in the world. Modern-day legends Serena Williams and Roger Federer have played a crucial part in increasing the popularity of the sport. After the retirement of these two, the tennis world is currently going through a transition phase.
While the new generation players take charge, there are some major developments in the governing bodies as well. For now, the governing of tennis is in the hands of the ATP Tour, WTA, and ITF. Apart from these three, we have team competitions in the Davis cup.
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In a major development, the ATP and ITF are planning to join hands with Kosmos Tennis. With this, there are going to be some major changes.
ITF, ATP Tour, and Kosmos Tennis announce strategic alliance
A strategic alliance between ITF, ATP, and Cosmos tennis means that there are some major changes that will follow in 2023. Cosmos tennis owned by Spanish footballer Gerard Piqué organizes the Davis Cup. The new alliance also means that the Finals and Qualifier ties become an official part of the ATP Tour calendar in 2023.
Big tennis governance breakthrough here:
The ITF and ATP, two of the seven kingdoms which rule over wedges of the tennis landscape, are joining forces in an "unprecedented strategic alliance" next year regarding Davis Cup (along with Kosmos, Davis Cup's investor and promoter): pic.twitter.com/9vdMNkn39U
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) October 31, 2022
Earlier, the ATP rankings being unavailable in the Davis Cup was one of the major disadvantages of the tournament. With this fresh approach, the players will definitely get the benefit. It will also bridge the gap between top-ranked and lower-ranked tennis players. Further, it will also make the governing process more centralized.
However, there’s no update about WTA’s end. So for now we can say that it will apply to Men’s tennis only.
ATP finals announce record prize money
After the four Grand Slam events, the two major events in the tennis calendar are ATP Finals and WTA Finals. The ATP Finals will kick start on the 13th of November. In the star-studded event, the prize money has got a hike of 103% from the previous year.
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If the winner of this year’s tournament has a perfect record, he will earn $47,40,300. That is a 105% increase from the previous year’s prize money.
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As the covid-19 restrictions have slowed down, the revenue for governing bodies has increased. Now that the stadiums are operating at full capacity, there’s a good amount of revenue being generated from the sales of tickets as well. Prize money plays a crucial role in attracting top players to the competition. Hopefully, we will see a great contest at this year’s event.
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