On reflection It’s probably not helpful of me to make certain comments, without providing clarification.

Thanks

Alice

Though, I sincerely hope this does not head in the direction of the courts, cause that is the last thing the Tour needs right now. This is something that should be settled between Sharapova, IMG, and the WTA Tour.

Between Richard Williams threatening to sue the Tour over Indian Wells next season and Sharapova going public with this issue, it could lead to several rough months for Larry Scott.

Although, at least no one is calling for a job review like what the top ATP players are doing for Etienne de Villiers.

The $400,000 extra seems to be based on an accrual of patch violations (pg.111) Not sure what the initial $300,000 is based on.

But yeah, thanks again. So the WTA does have such a rule - although their scheduling seems really ridiculous. On the other hand this rule states “or at such other mutually-agreeable date and location” Does that make it ambiguous?

I’m not sure if I’ll be able to shine much light on the rules situation, but I’ll give it my best shot.

The Sharapova situation is tricky as it involves several rule contingencies. For all her off-court activities, Sharapova is not known as one of the Tour’s most giving when it comes to her time during tournaments.

The most recent ACES standings that I can find were from April 21, which show Sharapova down at No. 10.

Another reason why Sharapova could incur an additional fine is because she does not wear a Tour patch. Players can support the Tour (and avoid fines) in a lot of ways including participating in tournament off-court events, doing photo shoots, or wearing the Tour’s logo. As we all know, Sharapova has chosen to skip doing all three of these examples.

Like you, I’ve looked at the rules and can’t seem to figure out where the $700,000 dollars is coming from. The Tour doesn’t specifically mention photo shoots often, although I think I might have found the “fine print” on page 107.

The gist of it is that players are required to participate in one major Tour marketing event every year, which will not exceed five hours. Now, if this is what the Rome photoshoot is about, and from what I’ve read, it could very well be, this is why Sharapova’s getting hit with a big fine. The Tour supposedly wants the Rome time to prepare a major marketing campaign for the Doha Championships.

Although it does not state what the fine is for skipping this event, given its importance, I imagine it is fairly large.

Like I said earlier, she may not be getting one fine; instead she could be facing several compounded for a grand total of $700,000.

Even if you are making as much as Sharapova is, losing $700,000 has still got to hurt. She may be the world’s richest female athlete now, but I’m sure she remembers the days when Yuri brought her here with only a few hundred dollars in his pocket.