Players risk ban for withdrawals

Top tennis players face suspension if they refuse to turn up for top tournaments, BBC Sport understands.

Event organisers have been hit by a series of high-profile men's and women's withdrawals in recent years.

But at present they can expect nothing more than a hefty fine if they pull out of contracted tournaments.

BBC 5live tennis correspondent Jonathon Overend said: "Talk of suspensions have been mooted for while but the new plan is surprisingly aggressive."

The aim by tour chiefs is to guarantee the top tournaments have a full complement of top-10 stars, without the current trend of late withdrawals, often for the player's own convenience, Overend explained.

He added: "At the moment players are contracted to play the Masters Series events and if they pull out the worse they can expect is a fine, which means nothing to a millionaire.

"If a player misses a tournament other than for a genuine injury he can expect to be banned from his most successful event the following season.

"In other words he'll lose a stack of ranking points without a chance of defending them, hitting him where it hurts."

Source: BBC Sport