'That was confidential': Serena Williams clips Roger Federer in deleted tweet

Serena Williams has bizarrely deleted a tweet responding to Roger Federer’s call to unify the ATP and WTA tours.

Federer sparked somewhat of a frenzy on Thursday when he suggested that the men’s and women’s tours should merge under one governing body.

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The Swiss star said uniting the men’s and women’s bodies was “probably long overdue” and that the Covid-19 pandemic was the ideal time for them to join forces.

“Just wondering...am I the only one thinking that now is the time for men's and women's tennis to be united and come together as one?,” Federer said on Twitter.

“I am picturing a merger between the WTA and ATP. I am not talking about merging competition on the court, but merging the 2 governing bodies (ATP and WTA) that oversee the men's and women's professional tours.

“It probably should have happened a long time ago, but maybe now is really the time. These are tough times in every sport and we can come out of this with 2 weakened bodies or 1 stronger body.”

Federer’s call to action was widely praised, however not everyone was impressed.

In a since-deleted tweet, Serena responded by saying: “Ummm that was confidential and not supposed to be shared yet.”

It wasn’t immediately clear what Serena was referring to or why she deleted the tweet, but it certainly sparked a frenzy among fans.

Australia’s Nick Kyrgios was another big-name player to speak out against the plan.

Kyrgios responded ‘Yes’ after Federer tweeted: “Am I the only one thinking that now is the time for men’s and women’s tennis to be united and come together as one?”

After some confusion about what Kyrgios was referring to, the Australian clarified his stance.

“Did anyone ask the majority of the ATP what they think about merging with the WTA and how it is good for us?” he later wrote on Twitter.

Fellow players Vasek Pospisil and Jamie Hampton even accused Federer and Rafael Nadal of stealing credit for an idea that has been long in the works.

Canadian star Pospisil appeared to mock Federer and Nadal for raising the idea, when the ATP player council have already been working on it since January.

Tennis Australia backs Federer’s call for change

However Tennis Australia didn’t agree with Kyrgios, giving their backing to Federer’s call for unity later on Thursday.

TA boss Craig Tiley has long been an advocate for less than the seven governing bodies in tennis - including the ITF and each of the national federations that run the four slams - and is adamant a merger would be far more lucrative for the sport.

“So is there a way where you bring those seven governing bodies together and you find a solution for a better a future, a future that puts more revenue into the system because the value's higher when combining the men and the women,” Tiley told AAP on Thursday.

“There's an opportunity to leverage off the asset of each other and success of each other.

“The objective of global sport should be ensuring that the lower-ranked players get paid more money, that there's more players making a living out of the game.

“So there has to be some sort of redistribution of the wealth or more revenue in the system - and more revenue in the system comes from aggregation and joining together.”

with AAP