WTA Tour: Top players plan boycott

The top players could boycott next year’s WTA Tour if their questions are left unanswered, third-ranked Dinara Safina has said.

The Russian said the players were unhappy with the planned changes to the schedule.

"If they [WTA] don’t listen to what we have to say, we might even choose to boycott the new tour," Safina told reporters after losing 6-2, 7-6 to compatriot Vera Zvonareva in the Kremlin Cup semifinals.

"They said the leading players would have to play in designated tournaments while lower-ranked players would be able to enter any event they like. There’s no logic in that at all.

"What if all the top players choose to enter the same tournament? What will the WTA do then? We want to know."

Under the so-called Road Map 2010, 26 Tier One and Tier Two events will be combined into 20 Premiere tournaments with players committed to play in at least 10.

Four $4.5 million tournaments, to be held in Indian Wells, Calif., Miami, Madrid and Beijing, will be mandatory for all players who qualify.

Below the mandatory events will be five $2 million stops in Canada, Dubai, Rome, Cincinnati and Tokyo, of which the top-ranked players must play at least four.

The WTA has committed to having at least seven of the world’s top 10 players at each of these events. Players will complete their schedules by competing in at least one or two $700,000 events.

"There are a lot of grey areas," said Safina. "No one seems to understand which tournaments you can play and which you can’t."