Word: tennised
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The pros are free agents, choosing to play the events they like, while each tournament director scrambles to woo top names. De Villiers is the referee, trying to strengthen tennis while balancing the needs of tournament directors and players. To complicate matters, national or local tennis federations govern the Grand...
But De Villiers, 57, may be the perfect candidate to turn tennis around because he has nothing to prove. He's rich and secure. At Disney for 14 years, he most recently ran its international TV business, then he moved on to a private-equity fund. "I've had a...
De Villiers intends to drum up interest by promoting plotlines and player drama--reality TV for the country-club set. "We have the most phenomenal characters of any sport, but we're not doing a good enough job telling the story," he says, his entertainment background evident. (His staff even...
Anderton oversees the ATP's new global-marketing fund, which will increase from $500,000 this year to $5 million next year and reach $10 million by 2009. To pay for it, De Villiers tapped sponsors and taxed tournament directors, insisting that better marketing creates money across the board. "He...
He also thrives on confrontation, which can rub tennis vets the wrong way. "I'm not sure if he knows the difference between a forehand and a backhand," says a tennis insider who requested anonymity. That wouldn't bother De Villiers--and it doesn't matter. Tennis doesn't need...