WTA Chair & CEO Stacey Allaster will step down from the tennis circuit on Oct. 2 in a surprise move, ending six years running the largest pro sports league for women. She said in a statement the recent death of her brother-in-law, as well as ATP CEO Brad Drewett, had "provided a personal wake-up call about life, family and priorities." Allaster said, "It is time for me to shift some time and energy that way. When I joined the WTA my goal was to leave the organization on a stronger footing and I feel a humble sense of pride in what we have all accomplished here.” Top accomplishments under her reign include a new $500M media deal with Perform and relocating the season-ending championships to Singapore. She also brought data firm SAP into the WTA, becoming one of the first major players in the sport to embrace the data analytics revolution that long had engulfed the industry but missed tennis. She recently said a new lead sponsor of the WTA could be in the offing by the end of the year. The tour has been without once since the end of '12. A tour outside spokesperson, Ari Fleischer, said an interim committee would run the WTA until a replacement is found. He said that process would not take long, and the search will be handed internally and not by an outside recruitment firm. Running a tennis tour is a grind, with the nearly 11-month season and far-flung global circuit. Allaster has two school-aged children, and her job very frequently took her away from them.
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES: Allaster's announcement caused some notable figures in the tennis world to go on Twitter and offer up their thoughts. Billie Jean King wrote, "So proud of Stacey Allaster and the foundation for growth and greatness she has built at the #WTA. Thank you for leading and inspiring us." Martina Navratilova wrote, "Congratulations to Stacey Allaster for a job well done at the #WTA - and now you can relax:). Thanks for your hard work and passion:)"
