Martina Navratilova has become the latest figure from the world of tennis to pile pressure on the WTA after saying it will be ‘hard’ for CEO Steve Simon to stay in his role after recent criticism.
The governing body of women’s is facing calls for change from its players after a letter was sent to them last month during the China Open. Former world No.1 Iga Swiatek said earlier this week that she and other women’s tennis players are more united than ever before in seeking improvements to the Tour. Topics of concern include prize money, maternity entitlement, injury absences, and the current rules regarding participation in mandatory events.
On top of that, the organisation of this year’s WTA Finals has been chaotic with the host venue not being announced until September. The WTA said they only had four months to find a host city and didn’t want to enter into a long-term agreement after their previous deal with Shenzhen fell through. Cancun was chosen to stage the event but building work on the stadium wasn’t completed until the same weekend the tournament started. Players have also complained about the court conditions and now the women’s final has been delayed by 24 hours due to poor weather.
“It shouldn’t have come that late in the year, making this decision. There was a sequence of bad decisions,” 18-time Grand Slam singles champion Navratilova said on Amazon Prime.
“Ultimately, Steve Simon has been the boss for nine years and here we are. Players adjusted and they had to but to come to Cancun in the rainy season? You cannot be hoping it’s not gonna rain at a premier event for the WTA Tour. It was just a whole bunch of decisions.’
“You have to own the bad decisions you made and make some choices after that.”
Simon has dodged the media limelight in recent days and declined multiple requests for an interview with Amazon Prime. So far, the only time there has been word from him is via letters he wrote to players that have been leaked to the media or brief statements.
As for Simon’s future as the head of women’s tennis, Navratilova believes his time might be up amid the ongoing fallout. The former world No.1 says she would like to see a woman be given the job next.
“Maybe it’s time for new leadership,” she commented. “For me personally, this being a woman’s association and being involved for such a long time from the beginning, and we’ve only had three women at the head of it. I think it’s time.’
“Hopefully, when we get a new leader, it’s a woman. There are plenty of them that are qualified for the job. It’s gonna be hard for Steve to stay in the job because everything is pointing the other way.”
It is unclear if Simon will conduct any public press duties before the WTA Finals ends on Monday.
