ATP, WTA to launch joint app

Will replace existing apps, allow fans to keep up with official scores and results

LONDON:

Tennis fans will be able to follow both the men's and the women's game on a single mobile app from Wednesday, the latest move in a series of collaborations between the ATP and the WTA tours aimed at uniting the fragmented sport.

The new 'ATP WTA Live' app will replace the ATP and WTA's existing apps and allow fans to keep up with official scores and results from both men's and women's matches.

That the sport still has work to do to reduce cracks in governance was evident as subscribers to the app will still not have access to scores from the Grand Slams -- the four biggest tournaments in the game.

The marketing departments of the ATP and WTA were aligned at the start of 2021 though the tours still have different ranking systems, logos and websites, while viewers need different pay-TV platforms to watch matches.

"We really want to think of it as one family," Dan Ginger, senior vice-president of brand and marketing, ATP and WTA, told Reuters. "There's a brother and a sister to the family, so they're going to have their own little personality traits which we want to celebrate but actually make sure they kind of feel as part of the same DNA.

"If we can reduce our fragmentation and think collectively about a broader strategic vision for the sport and carve out that clear positioning in the marketplace. That's really where I see tennis winning."

Tennis enjoys a massive worldwide following, but is governed by seven different organisations - ATP, WTA, the four Grand Slams and the International Tennis Federation.

The Covid-19 pandemic decimated the 2020 calendar and prompted calls for a merger of the various bodies, a suggestion that was well received by the WTA and ATP.

'Tennis United' -- a digital series created during the suspension of the WTA and ATP Tours due to the pandemic in 2020 -- was the first sign of collaboration between the two bodies.

The WTA also rebranded its website and changed its tournament naming system at the end of 2020 to better align with the ATP in another sign of the cooperation