The Scoop: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12

ATP marshaling forces for bigger share of Grand Slam pie
Woodbridge says Ferreria's group will die on the vine

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

FROM THE PACIFIC LIFE OPEN IN INDIAN WELLS, CALIF. – While Wayne Ferreira tries valiantly to get enough members for his proposed breakaway International Men's Tennis Association (IMTA), ATP CEO Mark Miles is in the desert trying to marshal support for a march on the Grand Slams' huge treasure chest, which by this reporter's estimate should top a billion dollars in three years.

The ATP is not only going to ask for more prize money, but will put on the table a request for the Slams to contribute to the players pension funds and possibly cash for promotions. The ATP doesn't feel like its gets a big enough share of Grand Slam pie. Without question, the ATP will try to spin the request away from prize money, which is already astronomical. The men's winner of '02 Roland Garros earned $720,000 dollars and the winner of the '03 US Open took in $900,000.

"The ATP has to negotiate it for us," ATP Player's Council member Alex Corretja said. "If we say we're not making enough at the Slams, I would feel like a block head. If I went to my father and said I don't get enough money to win the French Open, he would kill me right away. But the portion of all the money isn't enough."

Whether that's true or not, the fact of the matter is the four major national associations and the members of the ITF support community tennis programs the world over. It's hard to remember the last time the ATP gave money to repair cracks in courts in the inner cities or sent teaching pros out to give clinics in the far reaches of the Third World.

So why the national associations should give the ATP any direct cash for their pension funds is beyond most observers. If the ATP feels like they deserve a greater share of the pie and the ITF agrees that the players are being shorted, then the Slams should give the ATP a lump sum of money and allow the ATP to divvy it up any way it likes.

Woodbridge says Ferreria's group will die on the vine
After a meeting of 16 out top 20 men's tennis players on Monday night, ATP Players Council Vice president Todd Woodbridge said that the IMTA will fizzle.

"They don't have enough support," Woodbridge said. "It's unlikely they'll get off the ground because what they are proposing is already in place. We already have representatives and if you don't like them, you can vote in new ones and do it in the system that you have. Basically, they are only asking to vote in another player's council."

Woodbridge said that at Monday night's meeting, which was attended by Miles, the 16 players in attendance came out in favor of continuing to work within the ATP structure. The only players who weren't in attendance were top-ranked Lleyton Hewitt, Andre Agassi, Albert Costa and Alex Corretja. Agassi is injured and has left Indian Wells, Players Council members Corretja and Costa felt they were already informed enough and didn't have to attend and Hewitt told Woodbridge that he'd prefer not to attend meetings. However, Hewitt camp has told tennisreporters.net that Hewitt is in favor of restructuring the ATP.

"They were 100 percent behind where the ATP tour is heading right now in terms of the issues Wayne and others have brought up and with the leadership that's in place," Woodbridge said.

Ferreira has said that the IMTA is planning to launch the potential association at the Nasdaq 100 Open in Miami, which begins in next week, but Woodbridge said it's already pretty much a dead issue. "They might keep talking for another month, but I don't know who's going to back them, they need to have funds," Woodbridge said. "Are the players who they sign going to give them 10 or 20 grand each? Who are they going employ. They have to have staff. It's not just saying you are going to do it."

Woodbridge said that he believes that the players began to grow dissatisfied after the ATP was forced to eliminate its $10 million bonus pool this year due to lack of funds, which paid players based on their ranking and number of appearances at Masters Series events.

"Tennis and the whole world economy in general has to readjust and that created this interest," Woodbridge said. "The tour had been rosy for 10 years and then hit a bump in the road. It's exactly like the information technology boom, when that bust and everyone said, 'What am I going to do?' Guys in the locker room are talking and that's great. They want to know what's going on and they will become unified to solve problems."