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Karolina Pliskova has slammed the lack of charismatic stars and sellable personalities in women\u2019s tennis in the post-Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova era. The former world No 1 thinks conditions were better when both women were still on the tour. Pliskova also claims that players are no longer able to market themselves beyond the court, ignoring impressive brand deals signed by players like Emma Raducanu.<\/p>\n
Pliskova went on a blistering rant about the current state of women\u2019s tennis as she fired shots at her current colleagues, claiming they can’t attract attention like Williams and Sharapova did. \u201cOur situation is not very good, even though some of the best in the world have a lot to offer,\u201d the 31-year-old told iSport.cz.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am not going to evaluate the tennis aspects, but I think that if something is missing today it is charismatic stars, personalities that go beyond the courts and are marketing products in themselves.\u201d The 16-time title winner also thinks that the WTA have done nothing to market their stars but says the issues weren\u2019t as obvious when the multi-Grand Slam champions were drawing interest.<\/p>\n
Pliskova continued: \u201cThe WTA does not contribute anything to generating that, they are not promoting our sport or the rivalries that could be generated, clashes of personalities, etc. When Serena and Sharapova competed, the general conditions for everyone were much better.<\/p>\n
Click here to join our WhatsApp community to be the first to receive breaking and exclusive tennis news.<\/strong><\/p>\n Just in <\/strong> Rafael Nadal ‘will suffer’ on tennis comeback as private practice details emerge[LATEST] <\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThere was more sponsorship, more attention, more people in the stands, the interest was greater.\u201d The Czech tennis star hinted that she wasn\u2019t the only player who feels the same way as there are a group of players discussing how to change the game. But Pliskova herself doesn’t want to get too involved after 14 years on tour.<\/p>\n \u201cThis has to change and there is a WhatsApp group in which some talk and propose changes. I’m not going to get into that, I get the feeling that any modification to the status quo is going to take a long time and requires a lot of energy to improve things. I’m no longer at the beginning of my career, this is totally beyond me,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n However, Pliskova\u2019s claims ignored that several WTA stars have successfully been able to market themselves and score some brand deals. Aged just 21, Raducanu already has sponsorships with the likes of Dior, Tiffany & Co., British Airways and Porsche.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/72\/590x\/secondary\/5124476.jpg?r=1703074922678\")
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