Roger Federer Calls On ATP, WTA Tours To Merge Together

Federer emphasized he wanted to merge the governing bodies, not on-court competitionGETTY IMAGES

Roger Federer this morning "raised the prospect of merging" the ATP and WTA tours, believing that sports' current shutdown "has given the sport an ideal opportunity to assess its future," according to Steve Douglas of the AP. He wrote on Twitter, "Am I the only one thinking that now is the time for men’s and women’s tennis to be united and come together as one?" Federer "emphasized he was 'not talking about merging competition on the court' but rather the two governing bodies." Fellow ATP player Nick Kyrgios was among those to quickly agree with Federer's sentiment. Former WTA CEO Anne Worcester earlier this month also "called for a merger of the men’s and women’s tours" (AP, 4/22).