Tennis as a Team Sport
Professional tennis has been dominated for decades by partisan politics, e.g. the ITF versus the ATP and WTA Tour regarding the scheduling of Davis Cup and Federation Cup, and conflicts of interest, e.g. firms which represent players and sponsors and run tournaments. Therefore, it is refreshing to see how the powers that be in professional tennis, i.e. the ITF, ATP and WTA have joined together to form task forces
and confront two major issues which, if they are not monitored closely and controlled, could seriously damage the sport of professional tennis, i.e. doping and match-fixing related to gambling on tennis matches. The ATP and WTA have unveiled streamlined tournament calendars for 2009 and beyond, but scheduling challenges remain. Therefore, one hopes that this new spirit of collaboration will continue in the coming years. For example, compromise will be vital to resolving the challenges such as tournament scheduling, timing and format of Davis Cup and Federation Cup, as well as the length of the pro tennis season.
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