Federer Calls for World Tennis Shakeup

In football; much has been discussed about the potential introduction of wage caps in the lower leagues in order to prevent future financial meltdowns and to foster fairer competition, and in Rugby, there has been a talk of how to end the hegemony of the traditionally dominant teams in order to grow the sport’s popularity worldwide.

Tennis has often been thought of as a difficult sport to govern, as male players take part double the amount of sets than their female counterparts, and athletes can also dominate one particular style of court, such as clay or grass.

This; coupled with the sheer volume of matches that normally take place throughout the sporting calendar, arguably means that it is difficult to truly determine rankings.

Following in the spirit of introspection; Tennis legend Roger Federer has taken to social media today to express his views on how his sport’s governing body should evolve, stating on Twitter.

"Now is the time" for the men's and women's governing bodies to merge while tennis is in limbo because of the coronavirus.

And that:

"We can come out of this with two weakened bodies or one stronger body", Federer said.

Federer’s comments could prove timely as according to reports; discussions have taken place in recent days between the governing bodies of both the male and female professional tennis tours, encompassing how the two could work together going forward.

The Swiss star further clarified that he did not mean that mixed games should become the norm, but that he simply wanted a more transparent dual-gender governing body for tennis.

"I am not talking about merging competition on the court but merging the two governing bodies that oversee the men's and women's professional tours", Federer added.

A problem not unique to tennis is how to accurately rank players when there are so many tournaments happening simultaneously, as athletes compete for different titles.

Federer believed that fans could benefit from a more simplified format:

"It's too confusing for the fans when there are different ranking systems, different logos, different websites, different tournament categories".

Federer’s great  on-court rival, Spaniard Rafael Nadal also chimed in on the situation, writing:

"It would be great to get out of this world crisis with the union of men's and women's tennis in only one organisation".

Every major tennis tournament; including Wimbledon has been initially called off until the 13th of July due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, and it remains to be seen when play will resume.