Critiquing the WTA rebrand — Quotes from Merida, Austin
By Joey Dillon
The IX: Tennis Tuesday with Joey Dillon, March 4, 2025
Howdy, y’all and Happy Tennis Tuesday! The month of March is known as the “Sunshine Double” with both the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California and Florida’s Miami Open taking center stage, however the WTA unveiled a new rebrand — #WTARallyTheWorld.
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And I’m a bit underwhelmed.
In the past, we’ve had the tour’s “Get in Touch with Your Feminine Side” campaign and the forever iconic “Strong is Beautiful:”
I mean, helloooooo:
The last rebrand came in 2020 when they released their WTA For The Game campaign that kind of went nowhere, but in their defense the COVID pandemic didn’t help things. The Rally the World campaign comes with a few changes and perhaps most importantly, a new color scheme and logo. The signature “WTA purple” is somewhat gone, staying in the font of the logo but the majority of the bordering now neon green. I also would’ve rather have seen the hashtag to be #RallyTheWorld. I understand adding WTA because of the obvious, but visually it just feels odd. Perhaps I’m overly critical, though.
I really liked the previous WTA logo, which included a woman serving, because they’d be able to figure out what the logo is for. Now, what is it? An airline? A bank? It’s beyond boring. And players aren’t fond of it either:
I think my biggest gripe with the WTA and their branding is they’re consistently inconsistent. They spent well over six figures to work with agencies (instead of trying to work in-house) with the launch date to surround Indian Wells which is known as the Fifth Grand Slam. Sure, that’s great, but we’re just seeing video compilations of players and the new logo. Apparently, broadcasts will all be lined up in regards to presentation when main draw play starts Thursday, so I’ll reserve judgement there. However, the WTA’s website, which has been the bane of pretty much every tennis fan’s existence, still isn’t refreshed but is expected to be unveiled sometime in April. How can they not spend all of this money and not have all of their ducks in a row?
While I might be harsh about the rollout and what we’ve seen so far, I do applaud the vision. If you think about it, Rally the World is pretty genius. The WTA is the premier women’s sport in the world and the pun on rally? I really dig it. There is a lot of potential there.
The initiative is centered on telling the personal stories of athletes, aiming to deepen the connection between the players and the fans. The focus is not just on their athletic abilities but on their backgrounds, struggles, and what they represent off the court. By highlighting the human side of players, the hope is that they will be able to attract a broader audience — particularly those who may not yet be deeply involved with tennis. By emphasizing personal stories, the WTA aims to make women’s tennis more relatable and accessible, tapping into the growing demand for authentic storytelling in sports. It’s a clever move to highlight the struggles and triumphs of players who are seen as role models beyond the sport itself. I just hope we continue getting great content like this instead of a minute-long clip of players twirling their racquet and smirking for the camera:
That being said, they need to make sure they’re just not highlighting the athletes that are at the top, but the future stars, the doubles players, the everyday journeywoman. Gauging the WTA’s social media in the past, you can tell there’s a bit of a bias in coverage of certain players but I’ll also acknowledge that the players have to meet halfway. There are many players who avoid the publicity required and just want to play tennis and their agents enable them. I’ve talked about it in the past when I asked Billie Jean King during the BJK Cup Finals about players “buying in” the WTA and promoting.
I’m hopeful that we’ll see actual television ads (and on more than just Tennis Channel, if we get them) and I’ve seen players and others showing off merch provided by the WTA:
The tour needs to open a store, because I will gladly rock shirts, hats, etc. I’ve been wanting a WTA store for years — since before my time working for the tour’s front office. I think there’s quite a bit of untapped potential for the WTA to make revenue that way and have fans help promote the sport. Maybe that’ll come next month when the website is relaunched.
The WTA’s rebrand is an ambitious effort to grow the sport and connect more deeply with fans around the world. If successful, it could transform the way people think about women’s tennis and elevate its visibility on the global stage. However, the success of the rebrand depends not only on the visual elements but also on how well the WTA can address concerns like accessibility, consistent media coverage, and fan engagement moving forward. Other women’s sports are doing an incredible job and are, in my opinion, catching up to the WTA.
Ultimately, the future of the rebrand will rely heavily on how well it resonates with both long-time tennis fans and new, more diverse audiences, as well as whether it helps the WTA establish more partnerships and broader recognition in both sports and entertainment spaces.
On to links!
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This Week in Women’s Tennis
Emma Navarro won her first title of the year at the Merida Open Akron with the fifth final ending in a double bagel since 2000, beating qualifier Emiliana Arango. The doubles final was won by Katarzyna Piter and Mayar Sherif, who upset No. 1 seeds Anna Danilina and Irina Khromacheva.
With Matthew McConaughey in attendance, Jessica Pegula won the WTA’s first all-American final since 2017 against McCartney Kessler to win the ATX Open. Yuan Yue and Anna Blinkova outlasted Kessler and Zhang Shuai to win the doubles crown.
With tensions rising between the United States and Ukraine, many players are unsure of what to expect as we enter the third year of the Ukraine-Russia war.
Serena Williams has joined on as an owner of the WNBA’s latest franchise, the Toronto Tempo
Apparently, CVC Capital aims to buy even more of a stake in professional tennis with the Miami and Madrid Opens in their sights.
Belinda Bencic no longer sees tennis as a “life and death” situation following the birth of her daughter, Bella.
Angelique Kerber has signed on to be the Sporting Director for the WTA 500 Bad Homborg Open this summer.
With Indian Wells set to begin, one of the biggest questions is how Australian Open champion Madison Keys will do in her first play since Melbourne.
Coco Gauff had a great time at the Oscars:
To wrap up Black History Month, the All-Love Racquet Club hosted The Cookout: An Event Honoring Black History in Tennis.
With technology like the PlayReplay system at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship and SwingVision, I’m excited to see where things start to evolve:
With a pro career hopefully like McCartney Kessler‘s in the cards once she graduates, Luciana Perry is continuing to improve at Ohio State.
Legendary coach Rick Macci talks why Mirra Andreeva is so special at 17.
WTA tennis is returning to Iasi, Romania, which received the WTA 250 sanction previously owned by the Budapest, Hungary tournament.
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Tweet of the Week
Jessica Pegula is a good egg to wait and invite all of the Austin finalists a ride on her private jet to get to Indian Wells instead of a nightmare travel journey:
Five at The IX: Quotes from Merida, Austin
“I’ve been around many American players for a long time…that definitely gave me motivation, like I know that they’re doing well and maybe I can do well, too. That inspired and motivated me to do the same or do even better. It’s competitive where you want your fellow Americans to win, but you’re also competing to see if you can do better.” — McCartney Kessler on compatriots motivating her to her breakthrough 12 months
“It’s so hard to say because you can see both sides, right? If it was a big week, like here before Indian Wells, you could have a couple of top-10 players. Maybe that doesn’t benefit the lower-ranked players… trying to gain points and momentum. “It’s always tough when something like that happens with Madi, but I don’t think she’s killing herself over it. She won the Australian Open—so I think she’s pretty happy.” — Jessica Pegula on the WTA rule that only allowed one Top 10 player to play a WTA 250 and bumped Madison Keys from playing in Austin
“It has been quite a journey. I’ve had a few long matches, there’s been a lot of things that have happened — it feels like it’s been longer than a week, to be honest. But it’s been a really fun week.” — Emiliana Arango who won the WTA 125 in Cancun two weeks ago before qualifying and advancing to her first WTA-level semifinal and final in Merida
“That’s just how the week went, I guess. It’s one of those things that I need to work on. Everyone here is such a great player. I feel like starting from the beginning, from the first point, I need to learn that every point is important to win the matches.” — Diana Shnaider is learning about the textbook “sophomore slump after her meteoric rise into the Top 20
“I just think it’s ridiculous because no one sees me as anything else other than a tennis player. I love Kondo, but I don’t know if he thinks that’s a compliment. I did one season of Netflix and I’ve been a tennis player for 15 years. I don’t think I have to do anything else to prove I’m a tennis player.” — Ajla Tomljanovic on being more than a Break Point star labeled by the tournament emcee
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