"I think it would make the brand stronger": Clijsters calls for ATP and WTA merger despite previous discussions breaking down

There have been talks in the past between the ATP and WTA about merging the organisations together and former player Kim Clijsters would like to see it.

There are differences in the way the ATP and WTA approach tennis and while for the most part it's united we've seen the organisations handle things differently in the past. Due to that, a merger would be quite complicated but former player Kim Clijsters certainly is in favour of it explaining that most people who don't know the details already assume that it's one organisation for tennis altogether:

"Would I like to see it (ATP/WTA merger)? Yeah I think it would make the brand so much stronger. A lot of times to the outside world people automatically assume that it is one organisation. You know what I mean? Like people who don't know much about tennis, they say, 'Oh yea, ATP and WTA', but behind it there's one unit.' But that's, you know, far from that.

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Pros and Cons

As with anything, merging has both it's pros and cons. Clijsters is fully aware of that:

"There's pros and cons to everything, right? There have been many, many, many conversations about doing that. And you kind of always bump into a wall where, you know, not much happens and it stays with conversations. And of course, I would like to see, you know, there being one organisation."

Billie Jean King who is credited with spearheading the formation of the WTA years ago is also a strong advocate for a merger believing it makes sense for the sport:

"I tried to get us together back in 1968 and 1970 and the men rejected us. I have always felt that if we were together, we would have one voice and not just what we can do on the court but what we could do for the world off the court as one. Just from a pure business point of view, when you have the men and women together the tournament is worth a lot more money. I think we need to discuss that more often. The men always say that they are so big about business and yet they are the ones that don’t want us to be together when we should be.

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