Vera Zvonareva delivered big hits on and off the court last night. Photo / Martin Sykes
Auckland's international women's event is in jeopardy as the Women's Tennis Association prepares to restructure its circuit.
The WTA plan is to reduce the number of events worldwide, but increase the prizemoney. Among the possible changes is a million-dollar tournament in Doha, mooted for the week occupied by
Auckland, which would soak up players who might otherwise head to New Zealand or Australia.
The ASB Classic, a tier four event, has prizemoney of US$145,000 ($207,000). Under new proposals, that amount will need to go above US$200,000 and a one-off licence fee payment of about US$450,000 be paid.
The WTA plan, rubbing out tier three and four events and renaming tournaments Series A and B, is due to be implemented in 2010, but could be brought forward.
Classic director Richard Palmer, is confident Auckland will host an event next year, but wary on what form it would take.
Russian 5th seed Vera Zvonareva, a players rep on the WTA board, said last night: "It will be really tough for Auckland to stay on the tour".
Zvonareva believes removing Auckland, and other similar level tournaments will be bad for the game.
"It will be really upsetting because lots of players have got used to coming here," the outspoken Russian said.
"The future of tennis is about all players on the tour, not about just the top 20 or top 10. If the amount of tournaments reduce, it reduces the chances for younger players coming up. I'm not sure if they want to come up with something that's going to keep tennis alive, but it looks like tennis is dying."
This comes just when Classic officials should be celebrating one of their most successful tournaments, with bumper crowds and four top-20 players in this year's field.
Palmer said talks had been under way for several months to ensure the Classic's survival.
"We're working through that trying to put the finance side together."
Sponsors are committed to the Classic through to next year.
