Money won't solve WTA problems

Even the prospect of a 40% increase in prize money is unlikely to placate the top women's players who are furious over new WTA rules designed to streamline their playing schedule next year.
 
In exchange for their more lucrative funds, the WTA aim to demand more accountability from the world's top players, with a number of select tournaments requiring mandatory participation.
 
Their 'Road Map 2010' is the WTA's response to a schedule even they admitted was too unwieldy, and which would frequently be hit by the absence of star names from supposedly blue riband events.
 
Few tournaments are supposed to matter more in the women's game after the Grand Slams than Indian Wells, yet neither Venus nor Serena Williams have shown up to play there since 2001.
 
Under the WTA's new 'zero tolerance' approach, the Williams sisters would forfeit any associated prize or sponsor money, all ranking points, and possibly even face a suspension from the tour for not showing up.
 
Unsurprisingly, despite its financial advantages, top players have pronounced themselves confused and disappointed by the WTA's new heavy-handed approach to sorting out the mess they made.
 
Under the new rules, top players will be required to play in at least 10 top-level events plus four more major tournaments.
 
In addition, the WTA will guarantee seven of the world's top 10 will be present at a number of lesser events.
 
"They said the leading players would have to play in designated tournaments while the lower-ranked players would be able to play in any event they like. There's no logic in that at all," grumbled Safina.
 
"What if all the top players choose to enter the same tournament? What will the WTA do then? We want to know. If they (WTA) don't listen to what we have to say we might even choose to boycott the new tour."
 
The WTA want to avoid a repeat of this year's US Open Series, supposedly one of their flagship sequences of tournaments, which was sadly bereft of the game's biggest names this year.
 
Safina's second consecutive tournament victory this week wrapped up the 2008 crown, nudging out the next four luminaries on the list, namely Marion Bartoli, Dominika Cubulkova, Anna Chakvetadze and Victoria Azarenka.
 
So the WTA, charged with promoting the women's game across the world outside of the exceptionally high profile four Grand Slams, have a point. Sponsors, spotlight and ultimately prize funds will suffer if the situation continues.
 
Whether they have got things right remains to be seen. For a player who has already scooped upwards of £1.5million this year alone, Safina's gripes appear a little bit - for want of a better expression - rich.
 
On the other hand, enforced participation seems a tough policy given any number of imponderables, such as injury and subsequent recovery, which usually require careful planning suited to an individual's needs.
 
It is hard to imagine some top players grudgingly turning up at off-schedule tournaments, and even harder to imagine them then giving their best once they get there.
 
By re-shaping their calendar in such a way as to attempt to force more top-level matches, the WTA risks turning some key tour dates into virtual exhibitions between beleaguered or just plain disinterested stars.
 
Is watching a couple of half-hearted superstars much better than seeing the likes of Cibulkova and Azarenka flinging everything into their rare assault on a lucrative title? It looks like we'll soon find out.

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