An eternal truism in professional sport is that lofty principles usually come with a hefty price tag. The fortnight spanning Easter may be remembered as the time when tennis realised their cost is too high.
First we had British tennis climbing down over its ban on Russian and Belarusian players, a year after they were excluded from UK grass-court events after one significant tennis nation’s barbaric attack on another.
Then came another stand which crumbled after its first serious collision with reality. The WTA Tour will return to China, which in the past decade has become one of their most important and lucrative markets.
In both cases the initial positions taken by the sport were doubtless well meaning, but have ultimately proved futile.
Russia, supported by Belarus, is still waging war on Ukraine at horrendous cost to life. The situation of former Wimbledon doubles champion Peng Shuai – who made allegations of sexual assault against a top communist party figure in late 2021 – remains unresolved.
Women’s tennis will return to China after a four-year absence this autumn for the first time since the disappearance of Peng Shuai despite ongoing concerns over her freedom and safety
French player Alize Cornet looked to make sure that Shuai was not forgotten by getting the hashtag WhereIsPengShuai trending on Twitter last year
With little impact having been brought about by either episode, you suspect this marks the end of tennis’s recent flirtation with high principle.
The arguments involved are neither simple nor binary. Wimbledon and the LTA found themselves unexpectedly isolated in the game. My understanding is that about six other nations were originally considering implementing the same ban, but then recoiled when faced with similar sanctions from the WTA and ATP Tours that were imposed on the UK.
The rest of tennis not only allows individuals from the aggressor nations to compete, but often celebrates their successes as if nothing was going on in the wider world.
Sunday’s title win in Monte Carlo of Andrey Rublev – albeit one of the more sympathetic Russian players – was the latest example.
Some of the biggest prizes this year have been scooped up by those from Russia and Belarus. Aryna Sabalenka took the Australian Open and Daniil Medvedev has collected four titles, including the previous ATP Masters event in Miami. Amid such acquiescence elsewhere and no visa bans from the Government, the British game took a pragmatic decision.
So, too, have the WTA, dulling the halo effect around their chief executive Steve Simon. Prior to the Peng Shuai situation, Simon was regarded within the game as a decent and capable administrator, if a bit of a plodder.
When he declared there would be no return to China until the allegations were fully and properly investigated he suddenly found himself internationally lionised. Everyone from CNN to Billie Jean King rushed to anoint him as someone with the strength and wisdom of Solomon.
Yet the fact is the draconian lockdowns in the country meant there could not, in any event, have been tournaments there until now. At the first time of asking the women are going back, just as the men at the ATP were always planning to do.
In January WTA officials said they had received confirmation Peng was safe, but hadn’t met her
WTA CEO Steve Simon (above) previously said they would only return to China if they could arrange a face-to-face meeting with Peng, although it is unclear whether this has taken place
Simon runs a members’ organisation and it was made clear, in announcing the China return, that most players broadly supported the move. In Coventry last week Alize Cornet, who created the #WhereisPengShuai hashtag that once went viral, did not wish to discuss the matter when asked.
Some players will be aware these are difficult times financially for the women’s circuit, especially when it comes to standalone tournaments, whose number has reduced.
In the last full year pre-pandemic, China hosted nine events with an excess of £25million in prize money to play for. That was a very large hole in the autumn schedule. The likelihood of turning all this down was surely further reduced by the arrival of private equity giants CVC, who now own 20 per cent of the WTA.
The decision to go back also brings an end to the curious and stark juxtaposition between the WTA’s approach to Peng Shuai and the Russian invasion.
The ex-Chinese player’s plight drew a bold and humane response from the governing body, who at the same time have given every impression of caring little about their traumatised Ukrainian members. That group have been bitterly upset by the apparent indifference of their hierarchy.
Now pragmatism seems to rule all round. The next journey into the moral maze is likely to revolve around Saudi Arabia, with its seemingly bottomless pit of money and desire to enhance its image through sport.
The WTA and their new friends at CVC are said to be eyeing up some involvement with the kingdom, and it is likely some significant event will end up there in the near future.
The arrangement would have advantages for both sides and, in fairness, so many other sports are already in with the Saudis – including the men in tennis playing an exhibition there in December – that it would hardly be an outlier.
Again, the debate is not binary. In a turbulent financial and geopolitical era the argument can be made that there are jobs to support and a business to run here, and that has won the day.
TEAM EVENTS HAVE A UNIQUE PULL
Despite barely six weeks’ notice given of the venue, it was good to see the Coventry Arena packed for the Billie Jean King Cup, albeit to a relatively modest capacity of just over 2,000.
This was especially so as Emma Raducanu, the biggest draw, was not there, leaving only GB players ranked outside the top 100 to do battle with France.
The higher ranked French were given a proper test and the crowd were definitely engaged. A slight downside was the sight of some families and older folk understandably leaving after a first match that lasted nearly three-and-a-half hours, yet more evidence of the growing problem the sport has with ever lengthier and slower matches.
One of the biggest, and less appreciated, upsides to team events is that they take the elite game to places it might otherwise not reach.
There was a strong turnout in Coventry for the Billie Jean King Cup, despite little venue notice
Last week saw top-level players performing in the likes of Coventry, Marbella and Koper in Slovenia.
February’s Davis Cup World Group qualifiers were even more diverse in going off the beaten track.
As someone well travelled I have to confess that I was unfamiliar with some of the host cities and towns. Anyone for Espoo in Finland, La Serena in Chile or Tatabanya in Hungary?
Another reason to celebrate and preserve the concept of home and away ties in a global sport.
POSTCARD FROM A LIFE ON TOUR
It is always a blow to miss the tournament in Monte Carlo, but a man cannot say he has truly lived until he has taken on Coventry’s inner one-way system, as I did ahead of Team GB’s Billie Jean King Cup tie there.
Fortunately, at the end of that was a first visit to the city’s cathedral, which is sometimes described as new, but was actually completed in 1962.
As part of its design, it is conjoined with its bombed out predecessor, that was destroyed by the Luftwaffe in 1940.
The adjacent Council House is also impressive and well worth a look if you are in the area.