Mandatory Rule Is No Easy Answer

The easiest thing for the WTA Tour would be to make big-money tournaments such as Indian Wells, Miami, Charleston, S.C., and the German Open in Berlin mandatory for players ranked in the top 20.

Would it be the right thing?

Not necessarily.

After Venus and Serena Williams, Jennifer Capriati and Amelie Mauresmo declined to play the Indian Wells event earlier this month, tournament director Charlie Pasarell and his business partner, Ray Moore, were vocal in their criticism of the WTA.

“I think the biggest rule change needed in the game is the women, the top women, maybe the top 25, whatever number, should be required to play the top events,” Moore said. “They’re asking us to put up a whole bunch of prize money, which we do.

“We put up the second-highest prize money [$2.1 million] on the ladies’ tour. To have the top players playing in Dubai for $580,000 total prize money or $580,000 prize money in Scottsdale down the road is, frankly, a slap in the face for us. But I hope it’s going to be corrected.”

Said Pasarell: “Ultimately, it’s going to hurt them financially. It’s going to hurt the whole tour.” Moore said then he thought the issue would soon be on the agenda of the WTA’s board. The board met last week in Miami, but mandatory participation in certain events did not come up.

“Nothing was discussed about that at the board meeting,” Kevin Wulff, WTA chief executive officer, said. “Obviously, player operations and commitments, we review on an on-going basis.”

One WTA official thought that a mandatory rule was not imminent but added that by the end of the season there could be subtle changes “to encourage participation.”

Following the lead of the ATP may not be the answer. Monte Carlo, on clay, is one of the nine required events but Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Patrick Rafter bypassed it last season. Sampras and Agassi skipped Paris, another of the mandatory nine, last year as well.

Then there’s the other side of the “mandatory” coin. An injured Marat Safin showed at Indian Wells and Miami last season, looking like a pale imitation of himself, and failed to win a match.

The WTA could find itself caught in a box if it started making tournaments mandatory. Should Venus and Serena Williams be required to play an event where they have previously felt uncomfortable? They did not play Indian Wells after the family was booed last year during Serena’s final against Kim Clijsters. Earlier, Venus had withdrawn about five minutes before a scheduled semifinal against Serena.

And what would the WTA do with Monica Seles if one of the tournaments in Germany became required? She has refused to play in that country since being stabbed in Hamburg in 1993 and missed the season-ending championships last fall in Munich.

What if the Family Circle Cup event in Charleston became mandatory? Should a player uncomfortable with the Confederate flag issue be penalized for not playing?

Which is why the WTA is not going to act prematurely. An official said not getting the mandatory commitments remains a concern but that the organization will study what the ATP has done. If a top ATP player misses one of the required events he gets zero points for the tournament and forfeits one-third of the bonus pool money he is eligible for at the end of the year.

In Miami this week, the Williams sisters and Capriati are back on the court. Lindsay Davenport, who had knee surgery in January, is out for a few more months.

Mauresmo, who has escaped most of the scrutiny on this issue, is not playing, again. She has made only one appearance at Indian Wells in the last three years.

Those close to Capriati believe she will play at Indian Wells next year. Bob Kain, president of IMG, the management company, was asked last week about Venus and Serena returning to Indian Wells and said, “I don’t know. It might take some time.”

IMG, a partner at Indian Wells, also represents Venus and Serena, as well as Capriati and Davenport. Moore and Pasarell said that IMG can’t require their clients to play anywhere.

“The end result is, the players in the women’s game, they make their own schedule,” Moore said.

WTA Championships

Details of the season-ending championship tournament at Staples Center in November are still being worked out. The final could be Nov. 11, but that depends on ESPN’s programming and NBA schedule.

One of the tasks Wulff had at the WTA board meeting last Friday--before taking the vote to move the championships from Munich, Germany, to Los Angeles--was trying to explain the operations of Denver billionaire Phil Anschutz and one of his companies, Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG). Though deeply involved in many other sports, Anschutz is relatively new to tennis.

“It’s one of those pluses that’s very difficult to explain to the board,” Wulff said. “Their reputation is spreading. Everyone knows AEG brings a lot of value to the new relationship. We should be unbelievably appreciative they’ve selected women’s tennis to get involved in. There’s so many opportunities out there in sports and it says a lot that AEG wants to get involved.”

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THE TIMES’ RANKINGS

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