"Tennis really needs to make use of the mixed aspect of the sport more when promoting it & make more mixed events" - Tennis fans react to promo video featuring both ATP & WTA players

The ATP and WTA sent the tennis world into a bit of suspense with a new promotional video featuring both male and female players. While the video promoted a 'united' front between the two governing bodies within the sport, it did not clarify what that entails.

In a video posted on the ATP's Twitter handle, numerous ATP and WTA players are seen happily posing with their racquets. Among the female players, Paula Badosa, Simona Halep, and Ons Jabeur were part of the promotional video. Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, and Stefanos Tsitsipas, among others, represented the male players.

The caption read, "This is tennis. United," leaving tennis fans on social media wondering as to how the ATP and WTA would unite. Many hope to see more mixed aspects of tennis being promoted, including many more mixed events on tour with both male and female players.

"Tennis really needs to make use of the mixed aspect of the sport more when promoting it and make more mixed events. I loveeee this," one fan wrote on Twitter.

Apart from Badosa, Halep, and Jabeur, Garbine Muguruza, Qinwen Zheng, and Ajla Tomljanovic represented the WTA players in the video. Andrey Rublev, Denis Shapovalov, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Sebastian Korda, Hubert Hurkacz, and Soonwoo Kwon also featured from the men's side.

While some were left confused by the meaning of 'united,' there were those who hoped this would lead to more action on certain issues such as equal pay between male and female players, and better scheduling, among other things.

"This is a video featuring players from both tours. Supporting the womens tour equal to your own means the tour (and it’s players) supporting equal play across equal points at all tournaments. And a domestic violence policy that protects women from some of your tours toxicity," a fan opined on Twitter.

When Roger Federer floated the idea of a ATP-WTA merger on the tennis tour

Roger Federer during the Laver Cup 2021

Back in early 2020, Roger Federer had first suggested a merger between the two governing bodies of tennis. The Swiss legend, who felt it was a great time to initiate serious talks of a merger between the ATP and WTA, even received great support from his colleagues on both tours. However, the pandemic led to the idea never taking off.

Last year, Federer was again asked about his idea. While he admitted that the pandemic and other issues forced the idea to be put on the back burner, he reiterated the importance of such a merger.

"I believe it would be beneficial for both tours to be together. But I feel like it's been put a little bit on the back-burner...It will need some compromises on both sides but it would be a great thing for our sport," Federer said on the same.

The issue of unequal pay between male and female players has been a long-standing point of debate in the tennis world, with many players, past and current, pushing for equal pay at all combined ATP and WTA tournaments on tour.