A PALACE COUP HITS THE WTA PLAYERS ASSOCIATION

          The "abrupt overhaul of the WTA Players Association
     board has not only created a schism between the top 10
     players and their less heralded peers but deprived" its Exec
     Dir, Sara Fornaciari, of her vote on the board, according to
     Robin Finn of the N.Y. TIMES.  As part of the plan
     "advanced" by WTA Tour player/board President Patricia Hy-
     Boulais, Fornaciari, RHB Ventures CEO Ray Benton and former
     player Kathleen Horvath have been removed from the board. 
     Benton represents the Top 10 tour players on the board.  The
     three "were replaced" by Zucker Sports Management's Steve
     Zucker; Steve Wilde, stepfather of the player Linda Harvey-
     Wilde and real estate attorney Bob Ross.  Zucker was named
     the Association's CEO. The vote also created three more
     board positions for nonplayers.  Hy-Boulais said "the whole
     purpose of the restructuring is to put the power back  in
     the players' hands and get the lower-ranked players more
     opportunities to play."  But Finn adds that the "coup has
     met a mixed reception" as the WTA Tour is "investigating its
     legality and agents for the top players have threatened to
     have their clients boycott the Association in 1998 if the
     changes remain intact" (Robin Finn, N.Y. TIMES, 11/5).