ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — WTA Tour chairman Steve Simon has knowledgeable the group’s board of administrators he plans to retire in December, the ladies’s tennis circuit introduced Thursday.
Simon was match director of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, for 13 years earlier than he was employed as chief government of the WTA in 2015.
Underneath his watch, the ladies’s circuit dedicated to a $400 million enhance in participant compensation over the following 10 years, created a basis to raise its social impression in communities around the globe and entered a partnership with CVC Capital Companions to speed up industrial progress and drive reinvestment within the sport.
Final 12 months, the WTA restructured its management, with NBA G League government Portia Archer taking up as CEO and Simon specializing in strategic improvement and governance as chairman.
Simon has been a goal for criticism. Final 12 months, he and the tour have been sued by Ukrainian tennis participant Lesia Tsurenko due to the way in which it has dealt with Russian and Belarusian gamers amid the conflict in Ukraine.
In 2023, Corridor of Famers Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova questioned how he might log out on a profitable three-year cope with Saudi Arabia to host the WTA Finals regardless of questions on LGBTQ+ and ladies’s rights there.
Simon additionally led a WTA boycott of China from 2021-23 over considerations about Grand Slam doubles champion Peng Shuai’s well-being. Peng dropped out of public view after she accused a Chinese language authorities official of sexual assault. China was allowed to host tournaments once more after the WTA acquired assurances from individuals near Peng that she was protected and dwelling together with her household in Beijing.
