Tennis / Thomas Bonk : Women’s Group Seeks Director, and Support From Top Players

Jerry Diamond was the executive director of the women’s pro tennis organization for 11 years, so he eventually learned to recognize when he was doing his job properly.

“When the players were mad at me,” Diamond said.

Maybe that’s where Merrett Stierheim, his successor, went wrong. Stierheim resigned his post with the Women’s International Tennis Assn. last month after four years, which came as no surprise to Diamond.

“Merrett had the kid-glove approach to the players,” Diamond said. “He didn’t want anybody to hate him. But in that job, you’ve got to be disliked.”

Now, that job is open. Anybody want to be disliked?

One who has been mentioned as a candidate is Ray Benton, a former president of ProServ who is now president of Travert, a bicycle-vacation tour company.

“I certainly have my plate full now,” Benton said. “So I would say, no, I am not a candidate.”

Ellen Merlo, vice president of marketing services for Philip Morris USA, also quickly removed her name from consideration.

“I am not leaving any doors open,” she said.

However, speculation continues to surround John Carroll, a business adviser to the WITA board of directors, and Sara Fornaciari, an agent at ProServ.

But no matter who takes the leadership job of the women’s tennis group, there are going to be problems waiting, Diamond said. Principal among them is the need to get the new generation of top players involved in decision making.

Of the 11 players on the WITA board of directors only Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert and Pam Shriver are ranked in the top 10. The next-highest ranked player is Elise Burgin, No. 78.

“You can’t be a major entity if the top players don’t support your group,” Diamond said. “The top players cannot sit on the outside.

“We’re in a transition stage. Players like Chris and Martina and Pam are really dodgy about their future, although Martina is going to be a big, big factor for the next few years.

“But the future of women’s tennis lies with Steffi Graf, Gabriela Sabatini, Monica Seles, Mary Joe Fernandez, Arantxa Sanchez (-Vicario), Zina Garrison. . . . And not one of those players is on the WITA board.

“How the hell can you get anything done?”

The WITA board is the most powerful force in the women’s tennis organization and makes virtually all its money-making decisions. For instance, the board negotiates contracts with sponsors, determines prize money and regulates player commitments to the tournaments.

Diamond believes that if the game’s top players do not make the moves that affect them, then they may not pay any attention to the decisions and there will be chaos.

“If players ranked 50, 60, 70 or 120 are making the decisions that affect No. 1, 2 and 3 players, how do you think those top players will like it?” Diamond asked.

A possible remedy would be a two-tiered WITA board proposed by Diamond. Top 20 players would make all the decisions on running the circuit. The rest of the players would be in another group responsible for making the circuit’s rules.

Benton suggested a similar two-board setup, but said that the second group needs to be composed entirely of business and marketing experts.

Diamond, who says he has no interest in his old job, has been the promoter of the Virginia Slims of Los Angeles tournament and its predecessors under other names since 1972.

But if he were giving advice to the new WITA executive director, Diamond said it would be to be tough and enforce the same rules for all.

“You’ve got to make your decisions and stay with them,” he said. “Things are really fragmented now. So you make your decisions and then work with the group you’re offending and explain why you’re offending them.

“All that you are really going to do is lessen the anger a little bit. But at least you make them understand why you’re so offensive.”

Evert forever? Diamond is convinced that Chris Evert’s career won’t last into 1990.

“You can bet that this is her last year,” he said. “In fact, I’d be amazed if she played another tournament. I think she’s had it.”

Actually, it is beginning to appear that Evert has played her last tournament.

She withdrew from this week’s Virginia Slims of Los Angeles, which was supposed to be her hard-court warmup tournament for the U.S. Open, and will probably have to play an event in Toronto as a substitute.

“But I would be surprised if she does,” Martina Navratilova said.

“I don’t think she’s even made up her mind whether she will play the Open or not. If she is going to play it, it’s because she thinks she should, not because she wants to. I think that’s where she wants to finish the cycle.

“She doesn’t really need to play it,” Navratilova said. “I think she’s really happy (living) in Aspen. I think she’d be better off not playing. I mean, I guess if she got to the semis, it would be all right, but who needs it? She could go out on Court 3 or something. The atmosphere there just does not lend itself to nostalgia.”

So perhaps the way to go out is on Centre Court at Wimbledon, as Evert did, losing to the eventual champion, the No. 1 player in the world, Steffi Graf.

Tennis Notes

Want to play in the Volvo/Los Angeles tournament? More than 200 tennis players are expected to try for two spots in the qualifying tournament before the Sept. 16-17 event at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. Four from that tournament will enter the 32-player main draw. The wild-card tournament is Sept. 5-10 at the Racquet Centre in North Hollywood. . . . Mats Wilander, Andre Agassi, Michael Chang, Tim Mayotte and Brad Gilbert are committed to play in the tournament.

More than 1,000 Southland tennis enthusiasts are expected to take part in the USTA/Volvo Tennis League Southern California Sectional Championships at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. The tournament will be held over two weekends with the 2.5, 3.0 and 3.5 skill level participants competing next weekend. The 4.0, 4.5 and 5.0 participants will compete Aug. 19-20. . . . Name change: The DuPont Classic is no more. Prudential-Bache has signed an agreement to become the title sponsor of the Orlando (Fla.) men’s event. The $415,000 tournament is Oct. 2-8 at the Grand Cypress resort.

The first Men’s National 30s Grass Court tennis tournament, with an entry list of 108 singles players and 38 doubles teams, will be held at the Montecito Country Club in Santa Barbara, starting Monday and running through next Sunday. Peter Markes of Chandler, Ariz., has been seeded No. 1 and James Quenzler of Scottsdale, Ariz., No. 2.