wta: A tennis boss who put the principle ahead of victory in his opposition to China

Mexico’s Guadalajara hosted a women’s tennis party last month, and when it ended when Garbiñe Muguruza won the WTA final, the final tournament of the season, confetti fell into the air and the Mariachi band turned Akron’s tennis stadium into a celebration.

In the middle of it, Steve Simon, the spectacle chair and CEO of the WTA Tour, stood quietly and without a smile in a blue work suit with his arms crossed. He shared an occasional silent word with Chris Evert and Billie Jean King, or one of the local officials he had helped organize the event at short notice, after the permanent host, Shenzhen, China, withdrew due to the pandemic.

Simon had a lot more on his mind. As the tournament and closing ceremony progressed, a geopolitical crisis centered on women’s tennis had taken up much of her time and she led the tour on an uncertain path.