Never has an incoming tennis official faced more tumult than Steve Simon, who became the executive director of the WTA last October. Simon has had to face controversies relating to gambling, Maria Sharapova, the departure of Ray Moore, and Novak Djokovic’s reopening of the equal-pay issue. Shortly after the Sharapova incident, Inside Tennis publisher Bill Simons sat down with Simon (no relation) at Indian Wells, where the well-respected official for years was Tournament Director at the BNP Paribas Open.
Maria is the most efficient, intense player around, with an incredible team. It was the start of the year and she knew she was taking Meldonium – how could she make that mistake?
When I was informed of the positive test result, I was saddened by it, because I don’t want to see any athlete test positive. Nothing good comes from it. It’s not good for the athlete, for the sport, for the WTA. Maria deserves credit because she did step up and own up to her mistake. We would like to see all of our professional athletes do more of that. We’ve experienced too many times where the athlete has been in denial and then they’re proven wrong – Lance Armstrong and many others. She didn’t do that. Whether you believe or don’t believe her, she did own up. It shows integrity.
[But] all the athletes know that they’re responsible for what goes in their bodies, for knowing what’s on the list, what is banned. Clearly, as she said, she received the information, and she didn’t follow through with it. No athlete is above the rules. What’s positive is that this is an independent program. We support the rules, we enforce the rules, and we’re not judge and jury either. We’ll support whatever decision comes from the process.
What are your thoughts about Maria saying that she had to click and search for WADA info?
That’s her position. What she said in her opening statement was right – she was contacted, and she didn’t look. Bottom line, she needed to look, and she didn’t. As a result, she made a mistake, and she said that. I believe her at her word, I have no reason not to at this point. She tested positive, and she’ll go through the consequences.
Obviously there’s a range of responses. Venus and Djokovic were supportive but the French player Kristina Mladenovic and Jennifer Capriati were pretty critical along the lines that you don’t take a drug into your body unless you need it for a medicinal reason. What are your thoughts?
Most people are on either side of the fence – supportive and sympathetict. There hasn’t been anyone in the middle, and that’s to be expected. I’m not in the position to judge what Maria did. I don’t have the information about her medical conditions and whether there were other reasons. The basis is, each athlete does what they need to do to perform at their best. If it was not a banned or prohibited substance at the time, it was within her right [to take it], if she felt it was right. I can’t say why she was taking it – I don’t have that background information. I don’t have the right to know that, either. That’s up to Maria. I’m the wrong person to judge that.
Have you spoken to Maria?
Yes. I’ve been very fortunate. Maria’s always been very nice and welcoming to me. We’ve had a good relationship. But again, I was saddened by it, and she’s very sorry that it’s happened. She said she feels like she’s let us down.
What’s your take on the one-two punch of the gambling controversy and Maria’s announcement happening within a seven-week block of time? Has there been a little whiplash?
There hasn’t been whiplash. Neither topic is one you want to see. The reason I can deal with it is that I do believe very strongly in the integrity of the sport. The accusations that came out in Australia were terrible. They actually tarnished a wonderful event. It was a very sensationalist approach in the [BBC/BuzzFeed] article. The idea that tennis wasn’t acting responsibly or had its head in the sand I just don’t think is a fair statement. Tennis was one of the first sport to reach out and recognize what corruption could bring, and that’s how TIU (the Tennis Integirity Unit) got started. It was truly operating independently – funded by us, but operating that way. You can always argue, ‘Can you do better? Can you spend more? Can you do more?’ That’s fair. But the debate that tennis wasn’t operating with integrity I just didn’t buy. And because I know that we are, the doping thing that we’re going through also reflects our integrity. No one’s above the game…It’s not good news for anybody. But we’re addressing the controversies head on, we’re going to get through them, and we’re going to come out stronger at the end of the day. I honestly believe that.
On the one hand the sport says to the players, ‘Don’t gamble,’ and yet it goes out and gets a $70 million contract with a betting company, and you see signage. Implicitly that’s saying gambling is a fine activity. Should tennis not seek those contracts?
I can understand and respect that position and the position being taken with respect to hypocrisy. This isn’t just for tennis, but for sport, because gaming is a huge part of sport. It’s a huge issue.
Especially in tennis.
Absolutely. That’s why the TIU started. We can debate all day long whether William Hill should be on the court or any of the other deals going on. We can debate the pros and cons of aligning with the gaming, because they have the same interest we do. We’ve heard all the arguments. The key is through the independent review and having our process, just like with anti-doping, is that when we find someone who is not operating at the highest level of integrity we have the ability to discipline them and control that. I don’t see gaming going away.
You don’t think that tennis should back away? The WTA once turned down Tampax as a sponsor because they didn’t like the message.
Not at this point. I understand the argument. It’s something that will clearly always be discussed. Decision and position may evolve as we go through this independent review process – we’ll see where it ends up. We have a tendency to look at it from a North American basis, which is completely different from the rest of the world. If you go to other premier sports across the world, gaming is very prevalent. It’s actually on the uniforms of some teams.
A lot of people ask why is a man the head of the WTA?
I’m honored and humbled to be in this position. I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t feel that the product had a tremendous ability to grow, and if I didn’t believe in it. There aren’t too many times in your life where you’re provided a platform where you truly can put in positive change and maybe leave something in a better place than where you found it. There’s no guarantee I’ll do that, but I’d regret it if I didn’t make the effort and try.
Let’s talk about the most important issue in the world – grunting (laughs). Do you think there’s an unfairness in the women being singled out, because the guys grunt too? Is it the pitch?
Grunting is a part of tennis, male and female. Obviously the pitch of a woman’s grunt or exhale is going to be higher. If you watch some of the men’s matches, there’s a lot of grunting and groaning, but it isn’t as audible because the pitch isn’t as high. The idea that there is not going to be any grunts or audible noises is not realistic. But there can be perceived excessiveness. The bigger question is whether it is something that could be construed as gamesmanship.
Have you seen that?
I haven’t seen it, but I’ve heard it. I would just say from my limited playing experiences, if I could hear the opponent grunt or talk, I wasn’t in the match. From an athletics point of view [it shouldn’t be noticeable] if you’re truly focused. But from a fan’s perspective I can understand [complaints].
Women’s tennis has such a unique history of trailblazers going back to Alice Marble and Althea Gibson, obviously Billie Jean and Rosie Casals, the Williamses and Li Na.
In the history of women’s tennis, and even women’s pro sports, all of the top athletes that have come through and shined have been trailblazers in lives. It’s clearly been a more difficult road for women athletes to achieve the same opportunities that males are provided. That’s reality. There is that kindred spirit. The WTA has been very blessed in its history with regard to those great legends that have paved the way for athletes to have opportunities today.
The staff here [at the BNP Paribas Open] gave you a wonderful when you announced you were leaving. You’ve worked your whole life in tennis, mostly in Southern California – what did it mean to you?
To get a response such as that from your peers and the people you’ve worked with for so long and have been through a lot together…it’s indescribable. It’s a sense of family, team, pride, humbleness – all of those things mixed into one.
We’ve had a special team here at Indian Wells. Most of us worked together for 27 years. That doesn’t happen much in this world today.
My spies tell me that you have this incredible attention to detail: ‘The roses are overgrown by the pillars’ or ‘The Caterpillar machine is late.’ Is that something you take pride in?
Yes, because of what it allowed me to do. Part of my philosophy is that we were a team. I certainly do have attention to detail – that’s in my DNA.
Why is women’s tennis the most successful women’s sport?
One, tennis really does promote the athleticism of the female athlete. Two, women’s tennis does draw a male audience as well – in the sports marketplace, if you talk about it from a pure business perspective.
Do you think the fans can see the arc of a player emerging as a young wannabe teen and going through a hard career and becoming an icon?
From a fan perspective what you describe is correct, and it’s true of any sport, not just tennis. Obviously, the uniqueness of tennis is [that] the athletes have a tendency to start at a professional level at a younger age. That creates its own unique storyline.
Kim Clijsters essentially said, ‘I came on tour to make friends,’ while Maria once said, ‘I’m not here to be Mother Teresa.’ Can you talk about the culture of the locker room in the WTA, whether it’s a fierce competitive world, a sorority, a moving circus? What’s the dynamic?
To make sure I don’t get in trouble, I don’t spend much time in the locker room…But clearly, they’re going with entourages. There’s a tendency for that group to become their family, rather than the overall players. There’s probably a lot more camaraderie amongst players as they go further down in the rankings, because they don’t have as much support around them. It becomes their support. I’d like to see is our athletes truly enjoy the camaraderie…You can compete and want to beat their brains out, but it’s a pretty lonely world when you don’t have any friends. I’m hoping the players can learn from history to balance today’s world..You have to want to reach out.
We know that Maria in all probability will be off the scene for a while, and obviously Serena and Venus are huge superstars. How important is the star system to tennis in general and the WTA?
The star system is important in any sport…There’s a tremendously talented young crew of women coming up through the ranks. We’re seeing the depth of the tour with a lot of the upsets. That’s a positive thing. The level of tennis being played out there is going up as well, the quality.
