Was it just a few years ago that women's tennis was the hottest sport going? With no disrespect to the principal, when Vera Zvonareva is the sixth seed at the $2.1 million Pacific Life Open, it speaks volumes to the disintegration of the WTA's star power.

The women's game needs Serena Williams back on the court. Simon Bruty/SI

The best players have been falling like bowling pins, out of action with all manner of injuries. The human ratings spike known as Anna Kournikova was last seen peddling her own reality series, her return to competitive tennis little more than a rumor. Martina Hingis is retired. A host of bright prospects with names like Hantuchova and Dementieva and Dokic have yet to pan out. For all their excellence, the top two competitors (Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters) come from a small country with limited commercial potential. The two most visible stars, Venus and Serena Williams, have played three events between them since Wimbledon.

Yet less than a year into the job, Larry Scott, the Tour's CEO, has shown a nice touch navigating these choppy waters. Scott, a tennis insider who knows the sport's quirky structure as well as its sub-parts, is a straight shooter with a global perspective who has dispelled concerns that he would turn the WTA Tour into the ATP's little sister.

Lindsay Davenport is in good company when she wonders wistfully where the Tour would be now had Scott been the helmsman during the crucial years of 1999-2001. Scott has big plans for growth, though. He took time from courting sponsors and putting out assorted fires last weekend to talk with SI.com.

SI.com: You've been on the job for nearly a year. Can you give us a "state of the Tour" address?

Scott: I think we've made great progress in terms of putting some building blocks in place, but there is still a heck of a lot more to do. In my first year, we've started to turn around the culture. Players have bought in to what the Tour is doing and they have more of a vested interest in its success. They're more active participants with sponsors, fans and the media. Said a different way; the job description of being a professional tennis player has been redefined. They have a lot more responsibilities off the court. We're debunking the image that players aren't very accessible. They do a lot....Also, with our three regional sponsors, we have now surpassed the money the Tour was getting from its title sponsorship with Sanex. And we're not done.

SI.com: In this era of globalization, hasn't it become clear that regional sponsors are the way to go rather than finding one of the few companies with a brand that is know throughout the world?

Scott: When you peel back the layers you see that you're in rarefied territory trying to find companies that have truly global budgets for these kinds of things. At some level we learned that from the ISL deal. I think one of the unique strengths of tennis is that we have 60 events in 30 countries but our matches are more of a local event than a global one. We're not the Olympics. Our strength lies in the power we have in the local markets. Therefore, a regional strategy is better for this.

SI.com: What's your take on this injury madness?

Scott: You know, I don't have a great answer. I think it's a real fluke [because] it's at the beginning of the year. If this were the end of the season, we'd chalk it up to wear and tear. I've spoken to a lot of people and whether it's Amelie Mauresmo injuring her back in the middle of a match or Serena or Jennifer Capriati getting hurt, there's no pattern.

SI.com: But how concerned are you? Six of the top 10 players aren't here at the Pacific Life Open. Are you deploying resources to study this? Or is it just, "Sometimes the Tour is more healthy than other times?"

Scott: We've spent a lot of resources already in terms of medical services. We're investigating whether playing surfaces could be responsible for injuries. I asked for a survey on Rebound Ace around the time of the Australian Open, when so many players were going down. I already got back an initial report which says. "It's hard to find a pattern here." I think all these players going down so early in the season is an unfortunate confluence of some unconnected events. We've looked at past years and there's nothing to explain why there has been so many more injuries this year. I'm concerned about it, but I'm careful not to overreact.

SI.com: How do you characterize your relationship with Venus and Serena Williams?

Scott: I'm always careful not to lump them together. They're different individuals. But I would characterize my relationship with them as very good, and, already in the first year, better than what my predecessors had.

SI.com: How concerned are promoters about Venus and Serena's commitment to the game?

Scott: I think they're very committed. From my conversations with them I think they're fired up because they've slipped in the rankings after being out so long. I think they're working hard to get back. I think it's probably been a bit of an awakening for Venus to see how tough it is to come back. I think it's healthy for women's tennis, frankly, that people can see how difficult it is to return after a long layoff. The game evolves. Justine Henin-Hardenne? Kim Clijsters? They're better players than they were a year ago. They have Grand Slams under their belts, No. 1 rankings under their belt, Tour Championships under their belt. There's no substitute for winning a lot of matches and they believe they belong. Among other players, the aura, the on-court aura of the Williams sisters won't be the same when they come back. It's never been the same for any tennis player whether it's John McEnroe or Boris Becker or Andre Agassi. I've rarely seen a player come back from an extended injury and perform the way they did before. The game moves on.

SI.com: But is it a priority to encourage some players to compete more often? Or are they essentially individual contractors who can come and go as they please?

Scott: It's my responsibility to make some changes to our system. There are several shortcomings to the current structure, including player commitment. There's a lot of room for improved values. I'm at the beginning of starting to take our organization through what I call a "long range plan for the circuit structure." This means making changes to player commitments, to the rankings system. I do think we're sub-optimizing our value right now. I have talked to both Serena and Venus about that. Getting the players in the right tournaments at the right time is fundamental to what we're doing. The current system is too loose. There's been too much choice, too much free market. I've had discussions with a lot of players, including the Williams sisters, and I've signaled to them that we're going to be making changes in this area. I've been really pleased with their understanding. A real pleasant surprise is that the players see the benefits. They realize that women's tennis should be doing better.

I've put together a plan. Some of it is "Here's what the Tour will do," but some of it is, also "Here's what you're going to have to do." That's where I've drawn on my experience with the men's game in which it wasn't always [a matter of] educating the players that they have to be part of the solution, that someone wasn't going to do it all for them. From day one that's been part of my mantra. If we're going to make a dent, we're going to make it together. If you do A,B, and C we can make X,Y, Z happen.

SI.com: Have the similarities or differences struck you between this and your last job? Is selling tennis, selling tennis? Or is the women's game a completely different entity?

Scott: Definitely, the similarities have struck me more. But it's a people business and the personalities are different. One of the notable differences -- and one I think is a real plus -- is that a lot of the top women players enjoy being celebrities, they want to be promoted and want to be out there. As you can tell, they do a lot outside of tennis. I'd like to channel some of that interest and activity around tennis. The fundamental thing is that they enjoy being big stars -- the same way you see movie stars and musicians enjoy it. I won't name any names, but we've had some top players who have seen their stardom as a burden.

SI.com: Do you worry about the desire to be a celebrity going too far -- that it undercuts the product when players care more about modeling and movie premieres and being seen than making their commitments and winning matches?

Scott: There has to be a balance. But I lived through a decade of trying to promote men's tennis when, uh, our players were accused of being somewhat boring because they didn't do some of the other stuff outside of tennis. So I feel really fortunate that the women enjoy, on their own accord, doing stuff away from the game. They just need to find a healthy balance.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Jon Wertheim covers tennis for the magazine and is a regular contributor to SI.com.