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 Women already compete in the Fed Cup, which is run by the ITF
(International Tennis Federation) but the WTA is looking at starting
up its own tournament.
WTA chief executive Stacey Allaster told a news conference on
Saturday that the proposal was still in the early stages but if it
went ahead, it would most likely be restricted to the top eight
countries and played over five days.
"We are going to go to market and see if the market is really
there," Allaster said at the annual State of the Tour address in
Singapore. "We haven't decided if we're going to do it.
"However, we believe we have a responsibility. I think the demand is
there. Others are doing it. If we don't do it, someone else is going
to do it. In fact, somebody is doing it."
 Allaster said that while there may be some resistance to starting up
the tournament, the WTA had a long history of overcoming struggles
so had an obligation to at least look at the proposal.
"Our story is inspirational from the original nine, to breaking
barriers, equal prize money, coming to Asia, you know, having the
courage to do all that," she said.
"I'm sure in 1970 and 1973 it was not comfortable breaking away from
tradition. And Billie (Jean King) often says, it's a shame that the
players don't own the grand slams. That was one of the biggest
mistakes that we've made.
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"I don't want to make the same mistake. I think that the WTA owning
its own team event, if we think about (golf's) Ryder (Cup), how
successful that event is, that would be an amazing asset in the
short and the long-term for the WTA."
In a wide ranging address, Allaster also announced the appointment
of business executive Micky Lawler as the new WTA president, and
spoke about the WTA's huge growth in Asia, particularly China, which
will feature 11 WTA events next year.
"Forty per cent of the world's population lives within a seven-hour
radius from here, which is really quite amazing," she said.
"We think about the growth, this is where we can have some real
exponential growth. But you've got to be in these markets."
(Editing by Sudipto Ganguly)
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