Departing boss Scott still trumpeting WTA-ATP fusion (Feature)

By dpa Correspondents Mar 25, 2009, 19:04 GMT

Miami - Departing WTA boss Larry Scott admitted on Wednesday that his failure to be chosen last year for the top ATP job may have indirectly contributed to his leaving the women's game to move into domestic university sports administration.

The men's position was handed to attorney Adam Helfant, a lawyer now trying to find his depth in the sport after almost three months on the job.

'There is some connection in the sense that the major accomplishments of women's tennis, I think, have put the women's tour in very good shape,' Scott said.

His resignation prior to the Miami Masters came less than three months after ATP boss Etienne de Villiers was forced out and replaced by Helfant.

Scott, who worked with the ATP before coming over to the women's side and serving for six years as chief executive of the WTA, will head the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) PAC-10 Conference, effective as of July 1.

'When I was approached around the time of the US Open by ATP board members about whether I'd leave the WTA to go become chairman and president of the ATP, I said, no. But, I really had a deep belief and vision that the men's and women's tours should merge to really fully unlock the value of professional tennis,' Scott explained.

'That would really allow tennis to compete at a higher level.

'Having been an executive at the ATP for 11 years, and now six years at the helm of the WTA, there is no question in my mind that both the men's tour and the women's tour would be stronger, and tennis would be stronger and compete better with other sports, if the tours merged for a variety of reasons.'

Scott said he made what appeared to be a sudden decision on Sunday night after discussing it with his wife.

He said that the December rejection of his plan to try and meld the men's and women's sanctioning bodies presented during his job interview to the ATP board may have coloured his thinking on his career.

'It's clear that tennis, for whatever reasons, isn't ready for that (combined) vision to be realized.

'This did cause me to take a step back and reflect a little bit on what we had accomplished at the WTA, what contribution I could make as a leader in the sport.

'And then I realized, that I've done most of the major things that I could want to do.'

Scott said that missing the trip in January to the Australian Open for the first time in two decades as a player and administrator made him realize what it was like to spend time (eight weeks) with his wife and three children in their Florida home.

'That was also an awakening for me,' he confessed. 'I realized how much I was missing, sort of being home and how much not travelling constantly and being on the treadmill.

'So it was very much a personal decision and desire to travel less and be with my family, twinned with this realization that if tennis is not ready to come together and realize a bigger potential, maybe I've done all I can really do.'

Scott said he would help the WTA try and find his replacement, with meetings on the subject beginning in early April.