The ATP Tour and the WTA Tour got tough heading into the 2009 season, having had enough of seeing their so-called marquee tennis tournaments diluted by the withdrawals of any number of their top stars.

The ATP announced eight of their nine rebranded ATP 1000 Series tennis tournaments would become mandatory events, while the WTA Tour designated five events Premier Mandatory.

In theory top players who missed these mandatory events would be liable for docked world-ranking points, fines or even suspensions from the Tour unless they came up with a viable excuse.

However, the threat did not bother the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, who stayed true to their eight-year boycott of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, which stemmed from an incident after Serena won the title there in 2001.

There are plenty of other signs that the new 'get-tough' policies are in danger of alienating top stars - as opposed to the intended purpose of encouraging them to guarantee a series of sub-Grand Slam level elite tennis tournaments.

A squeezing-together of major clay-court tournaments at Monte Carlo, Rome, Barcelona and Hamburg into successive weeks prompted world number one Rafael Nadal to call the new schedule "outrageous" and to claim furthermore: "The truth is the ATP are making our lives almost impossible."

At least the ATP Tour can bank on big headlines at any event for which Nadal and Roger Federer show up. The WTA Tour goes forward with a different challenge - unearthing exciting new superstars to fill the Williams sisters' boots.