Racing to Doha

The women of the WTA are in a tight race to the year ending championships in Doha. Here’s how it’s playing out.

Yes, I took this graphic from tennis.com because I’m lazy and busy. I get this feeling that the YEC is going to be craptacular this year, seeing as we most likely won’t get both Williams sisters, Sharapova’s not playing, Ivanovic hasn’t shown up since Roland Garros and it’s in Doha. So I won’t be able to watch it at a reasonable hour. Ugh.

Filed under: WTA, sports, Tennis, WTA

Brace Yourselves

The WTA is planning on formally unveiling its Road Map 2010 plan at next month’s U.S. Open. For those of you who are not aware, Road Map is basically Larry Scott’s master plan of controlling players like Maria Sharapova and Serena and Venus Williams’ playing schedules. The tour is planning to exchange a 40% pay increase for a full field at mandatory events. And if you don’t play, you get slapped with a heavy fine, even if you’re injured. Maybe it’s just me, but, it seems like this isn’t going to fix any problems. If Sharapova or the Sisters don’t want to play, they’re not going to play. Money really isn’t an issue for them. Maria makes $26 million a year, a couple grand isn’t going to set her back all that much. As for the players who make less than $20 mil a year, it seems like they’d just play events injured to avoid these fines and being penalized in the rankings, which is just going to see the overall quality of tennis drop. Needless to say, this whole thing is pretty stupid.

Filed under: WTA, maria sharapova, serena williams, sports, Tennis, venus williams, WTA

Looking for a Hero?

Well, I found some. Actually, more like heroines, but that’s besides the point. The Sony Ericsson WTA has launched its largest ever ad campaign, entitled “Looking For a Hero?”. The video ads are here. The rest of the print ads are after the cut.

Filed under: WTA, maria sharapova, serena williams, sports, Tennis, WTA