We were interested to read earlier this week that the WTA isn’t at all worried by the gaping hole left in Chinese tennis by the retirement of Li Na, despite an obvious dip in ticket sales to a number of events in China last year following Li’s injury-induced absence.
WTA boss Stacey Allaster pointed to the fact that the organization has been running now for 42 years, enjoys record prize money year on year and has never had to rely on one player for its survival. These are certainly valid points – tennis is an enormously popular sport right around the world and we agree women’s tennis is in good shape.
But to suggest Li’s retirement shouldn’t spark the WTA into action is more than a little naive. While tennis might not “rely” on China for its long-term future the way that, say, snooker does, surely a sport that enjoys widespread support in China is healthier than one that doesn’t.
After all, we’re talking about a country with the world’s biggest population and second biggest economy. Sporting officials should be climbing over one another to get a piece of the pie!
The problem tennis has right now is that there is no obvious successor to Li Na’s crown. Li was a pioneer of the sport and her unprecedented success was the reason she became a hero in her home country. Viewer numbers sky-rocketed at her peak, as did participation levels and although the likes of Peng Shuai are ranked around the top 20 they won’t capture the imaginations of a nation unless they start winning grand slams.
Li will continue to do her bit, promising to open her very own tennis academy to help produce the next generation of Chinese tennis stars but given China has so much to offer the WTA would be wise to take the opportunity while it still exists and do everything it possibly can to keep this powerhouse nation on board.
