ATP cuts its staff

As discussed here in April, the financial collapse of Swiss sports marketing firm ISL carried with it unhappy implications for men's professional tennis.

ISL had promised to fill the ATP's coffers with $1.2 billion in a deal to sponsor the tour's nine elite events, the Tennis Masters Series. But the excessive optimism of the deal, combined with a general economic slowdown and some mismanagement at ISL, meant that ISL is unable to live up to its end of the bargain. The ATP will have to settle with the debt-ridden Swiss firm for much less.

Since the ATP will have less cash on hand than planned, its administrative operations had to be reviewed and pared back. As we all know, this inevitably means layoffs. Sadly, the ATP communications staff took a big hit, with four communications managers losing their jobs.

On The Line is familiar with some of the unlucky communications staffers. The communications team is the tour's link with the media, and supplies scores, match reports and newsletters. Much of the content of the ATP website is provided by these folks. At tournaments there are always at least a couple of communications staff on hand to feed reporters with mountainous piles of player information and statistics. At tournaments they also arrange for press conferences, interviews and photo sessions wi th the players.

The tournament-related functions of the communications staff are the most intriguing, since the tournaments are the core of pro tennis. There are always at least a couple of communications staff on the scene at each tournament, with the number depending on the size of the event and the number of media members expected. Their time is divided between churning out written communications, and dashing here and there to escort players to press conference and arrange for interviews with reporters who require the m.

It's a tough job, with a lot of long hours and frustrations in dealing the sometimes-spoiled players on the one hand, and the sometimes-obnoxious media on the other. They often have to juggle a dual role ? provide the media with access to players, while controlling the access so players are not overwhelmed ? and they do about as well as can be expected.

We have had little cause to complain about the excellent work done by the ATP's communications people, and hope that those laid off will quickly find positions elsewhere. We also hope that the remaining communications staff will not be so overburdened that the promotion of the game will suffer.

Race for #1

Martina Hingis has not won a tournament since February and her game appears to be slipping with each passing month, as evidenced by her 2-6 2-6 quarterfinal loss to Elena Dementieva in Moscow this week. Still, she may yet finish the season as #1! Martina's closest pursuers, Venus Williams, Jennifer Capriati and Lindsay Davenport, have yet to fly to a tournament since commercial airlines were hijacked and used for terrorist attacks in the U.S. last month.

The WTA has been exemplary in responding to the players' justifiable reluctance to hop into airplanes. In the immediate wake of the attacks, the women's tour did not fine players who withdrew from tournaments to which they had committed. But, now, sensibly, the leniency has been removed, and the WTA now expects all players to get back to work.

However, we're not sure that all players will heed the call. The WTA's fines and lectures have rarely dissuaded the top players from withdrawing from events in the past. In any event, the women pros can always fall back on their repertoire of phantom injuries and creative excuses. Venus Williams stubbornly refuse to withdraw her withdrawal, as it were, from the Filderstadt event next week, citing mysterious "family reasons". And we still have seen no sign of Capriati since early September. Will Hingis, who is already back to jetting around the world in search of ranking points, once again stagger across the line to number one?

The men appear to be riding the planes again, and Gustavo Kuerten, the reigning #1, looks well-positioned to defend his year-end title from 2000. Guga is about to launch his four-tournament indoor season next week in Lyon. At this point, it looks like the Brazilian's stiffest challenge may come from the man of the moment: U.S. Open champion and world #3 Lleyton Hewitt. The swift Australian has not skipped a beat since his triumph in New York. Hewitt led the Aussie side to a win over Sweden in the Davis Cup semifinals last month, and has smartly marched to the Japan Open final this week.

Andre Agassi may be #2 ahead of Hewitt, but the fading Las Vegan had the bulk of his success in the first three months of the year, and needs to find his 'A' Game in a hurry if he wants to hold off the U.S. Open champion.