Roger Federer raised the prospect of merging the governing bodies that oversee the men’s and women’s professional tennis tours on Wednesday.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion began a string of posts on Twitter by saying the shutdown of tennis because of the coronavirus outbreak has given the sport an ideal opportunity to assess its future. “Am I the only one thinking that now is the time for men’s and women’s tennis to be united and come together as one?” Federer wrote, sparking an initial flurry of replies on the social media platform.
The professional era in tennis started in 1968, and the ATP was founded in 1972 and has run the men’s game since. The WTA was founded by Billie Jean King in 1973, uniting the women’s professional game into one