ST PETERSBURG, FL, USA – The WTA has announced the results of the 2019-2021 WTA Class Delegate election, as voted on by the WTA Players’ Council. Former WTA World No.4 and 1997 Roland Garros champion Iva Majoli was elected as the Top 20 delegate while New York-based attorney Michael Segal was elected as the 21-100+ delegate.
The newly elected delegates will be seated as Player Representatives on the WTA Board of Directors in September. Both Majoli and Segal will attend the Board and Players’ Council meetings leading into the commencement of their formal roles.
WTA Player Board Representatives engage with Players’ Council members and the player ranking groups they represent. They are responsible for assuring that the Board is fully informed of their constituency’s point of view. Majoli will represent singles players ranked 1-20. Segal will represent singles players ranked 21-100+ and players with a doubles-only ranking.
Majoli is a former top five WTA singles player, winning a total of eight WTA singles titles before retiring from the Tour in 2004. She has since held a position with WTA’s St Petersburg Ladies Trophy since 2016 and has served on the Board of the Croatian Tennis Federation for several years. Majoli has also served as a WTA and Olympic tennis coach, a Fed Cup captain and been recognized as the Croatian Sportswoman of the Year on four different occasions.
Segal was formerly a senior partner, and is currently Of Counsel, in the New York City law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, where he has specialized in the executive compensation aspects of corporate mergers, acquisitions and other business transactions. He has been recognized as one of the leading lawyers in the field, garnering a “Senior Statesman” designation, the highest awarded, from Chambers USA Guide to America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. Segal has been the Chairperson of the WTBA (Women’s Tennis Benefits Association) Pension Committee for the past 14 years, overseeing pension assets for the WTA athletes, as well as a member of the WTA Assistance Program Grant Committee. He is a graduate of The Ohio State University, where he was a member of the tennis team, and The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.
Majoli and Segal will take over the positions previously held by Gary Brody and Lisa Grattan, respectively, neither who opted to run for re-election. Brody served for two years while Grattan has served on the Board of Directors for over 20 years. Grattan’s long service to the WTA began in 1992 as a Tour Supervisor and she joined the Board in 1998. She will continue in her role as Chairperson of the WTBA.
The WTA Board of Directors is comprised of eight voting Directors of which three are appointed by the players, three are appointed by the tournaments, one is appointed by the International Tennis Federation, and the WTA CEO who also serves as Chairman. Additional members of the Board include three alternates representing the players, tournaments, and the International Tennis Federation.
The election for Tournament Board Representatives will take place in June and July.