WTA Tour Wants to Reduce Withdrawals

What had been called a fluke and an anomaly -- numerous withdrawals of top women tennis players from leading events -- now is officially a trend, one threatening the sport’s credibility.

Larry Scott, chief executive of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, has seen the numbers, and on Friday called for interim rule changes for 2007. They include reducing the number of tournaments players are required to enter from 13 to possibly 12, doubling fines for withdrawals and preventing players from getting wild cards the week after pulling out of an event.

“We’ve all known for some time that the demands on the players have been to the point where we have not been able to consistently deliver all the players that are advertised -- injuries, fatigue and withdrawals have been a problem on the tour,” Scott said in a telephone interview Friday.

” ... Our fans are being disappointed too often and that’s not good. We have to address that and it was clear that the only way to address that fundamentally is by changing the calendar and the circuit structure.”

Full-scale changes won’t happen until 2009 because the 2008 calendar is especially difficult to alter because of the Olympics. Scott’s short-term solutions will probably be approved at the season-ending WTA Tour Championships in Madrid in early November.

Data released by the tour backed up what tournament directors, promoters and fans have been complaining about the last few years. Withdrawals by top-10 players from the tour’s Tier 1 events -- the most prestigious -- have increased by 72% over the last five years.

In 2006 there were a record 31 withdrawals, more than double last year, when there were 13. Additionally, the tour did not meet its commitment at any of the 10 Tier I tournaments to feature six of the top 10 players.

“I thought the extent of it was an anomaly,” Scott said of 2005. “I guess the epiphany a year later was that I was wrong.”

Separately, Scott said he has been in talks with Lindsay Davenport and her representatives regarding her request for gold exempt emeritus status in 2007. That would enable Davenport to receive a wild-card spot at any event, prolonging her career.

She was upset at having been rejected in her request for 2006, but Scott hinted the outcome would be a favorable one now.

“At this time last year, when she requested it, she was ranked No. 1 in the world,” Scott said. “This time, by the end of this year, she’s probably going to be ranked in the 30s. It’s a completely different situation as I look at next year.”

lisa.dillman@latimes.com