Tennis has got a little sex secret.  And after the last few weeks it no longer looks so little or so secret.

It has nothing to do with who was hooking up with whom in the village at Wimbledon — however titillating that might be.  No, this has to do with the fact that some of the best players in the world also happen to be extremely attractive women and how The Game is going to deal with that.

Officially of course, this is 2008 and we are all politically correct enough to say we admire these women for their terrific athletic ability.

But are we being honest?

There’s Ana Ivanovic in Dolce and Gabana being escorted to a swanky party by Sir Richard Branson. Or glam shots of Daniela Hantuchova in an airline magazine; Venus Williams signing copies of a book of glamorous shots of her at Ralph Lauren’s London store and so on and so on until you get to Ashley Harkleroad on the cover of the new issue of Playboy.

And putting an official stamp on it all the WTA unveiled its new promotional campaign in London with a selection of the sports stars in a Charlie's Angel themed set up

Larry Scott, the chief executive of the WTA tour is under no illusions that looks are important to the future of the sport.

"All sports are trying to distinguish themselves through their athletes and the glamorous nature of what they do. That’s what sponsors are after," he told London’s Financial Times newspaper. And how does Ana feel? "I’m accepting it. It’s just part of my job," she was quoted in the same article.

And who can argue with Scott’s basic thesis that sport is in fact part of the entertainment industry. It gets forgotten — but shouldn’t — that without TV all those lucrative endorsement deals would disappear. And without those deals how many players could afford to travel the world playing in all these tournaments.  Of all women’s professional sports, tennis is the top rated and its stars are the best known. And it is no big secret that —  all things being equal —  more glamour equals bigger ratings.

Which makes it especially puzzling that while the London press was lapping up the beautiful tennis stars in town that the Wimbledon powers that be seemed to favor men’s matches for center court.  Jelena Jankovic was sent out to court 18. "I was almost in the parking lot," she grumbled. Court 18 has just 782 seats. Both Serena and Venus Williams played matches on court two, which has just 2,200 seats. Center court seats 15,000 fans and Court One has 11,393 seats. In fact up to the quarterfinals 19 top 10 women played matches on Court Two or less compared with only eight top ten men.

Serena commented: "I do think it is weird having a female champ who has won the tournament four times play on court two."

In the era when Sony Ericsson will spend $90 million to sponsor  women’s tennis —  which has more than a little to do with the glamour attached to it —  it is not so much a question of Billie Jean having to fight for the rights of women as market forces dictating that these are the matches that the paying fans want to see. Women’s tennis has grasped the fact that sport is big business and its stars are leveraging their looks and fame with great deals.

All of which could almost make you feel sorry for Justin Gimelstob and his incoherent rant on a Washington D.C. radio station where he unloaded on Anna Kournikova and several other female stars. With his all time high ranking of 63 the endorsement deals never exactly flooded in and he certainly wasn’t likely to ever be offered a modeling contract.

What is baffling however, is the way he seemed to sail through with barely a rap on the knuckles. He is still commentating on Tennis Channel; still in his new seat on the board of the ATP; still welcome to play in Billie Jean’s World Team Tennis (after a one match suspension.)

Is it possible that everyone is a little uncomfortable with admitting to the idea of tennis as showbusiness and the way that glamour is being used to sell the sport? Did it just make more sense to accept Gimelstob’s hasty apology and let sleeping dogs lie than to draw more attention to what is going on.

But then Billie Jean, who has fought tirelessly for women’s rights for 40 years, proved in 1973 that you can silence chauvinists —  and make money doing it. Her showdown with Bobby Riggs brought 30,472 spectators to the Houston Astrodome and was watched by a prime time TV audience of 50 million. Oh yes. And of course she won in three sets.

Sex sells. And so does the battle of the sexes.

Just coincidentally Gimelstob will be playing World Team Tennis (July 23) for the Washington Kastles when they take the court against the St. Louis Aces…and their new star, Anna Kournikova.

Hard to imagine that that rant will harm ticket sales.