The chief executive of the WTA Tour says a new scheduling system with fewer mandatory tournaments has seen player withdrawals go down by more than one third in 2009.The tour lowered the number of tournaments top players must enter from 13 to 10 this year and has extended its offseason by two weeks.
Tour CEO Stacey Allaster said Sunday after the final of the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships that the new scheduling has been "a fantastic success." She says player withdrawals from top events is down by 34 percent compared to last year.
Allaster also said attendance was up 11 percent for the premier tournaments in 2009, while prize money increased by 34 percent despite the financial crisis.
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