April 23 (Reuters) – Portia Archer has stepped down from her role as chief executive officer of the WTA less than two years after being appointed, the governing body of elite women’s tennis said on Wednesday.
WTA chair Valerie Camillo informed staff, members and other stakeholders of Archer’s departure on Wednesday in a note which the organisation shared with Reuters.
The letter did not specify a reason for Archer’s departure but said she had left her role effective April 20 ahead of her contract renewal.
The American had replaced Steve Simon, who relinquished his role as CEO after eight years in late 2023. Simon remained as executive chairman of the organisation until Camillo was appointed in October last year.
“We are working through a transition plan for the leadership of the WTA and will share an update on this by mid-May,” Camillo wrote in the note.
Archer, previously a senior executive at the National Basketball Association, took charge as WTA CEO in July 2024 and led day-to-day business strategy and operations, helping it expand into new markets.
However, one of her first tasks since taking the job was to defend the governing body’s much-criticised decision to move the season-ending WTA Finals to Riyadh.
That decision was made in April 2024 under Archer’s predecessor Simon, with the first WTA Finals taking place in the Saudi capital later that year.
That three-year deal ends this season, with the governing body telling Reuters earlier this month that it was talking to potential partners around the globe to host the finale from 2027.
(Reporting by Karan Prashant Saxena in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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