The WTA Finals has always been billed as the pinnacle event of the women’s tour that offers the highest amount of prize money and ranking points outside of the Grand Slams.
First held in 1972, the event features the eight highest-ranked players over the past 12 months based on their points won. The field is split into two groups of four with the top two of each group then progressing to the knockout stages. This year’s event is being held at the Plaza Quintana Roo in Cancun, Mexico. It is located within the Boulevard Kukulcan which is a popular destination for tourists due to its high-quality beaches and luxury hotels. However, not everything is as perfect as it looks.
The WTA has come under criticism over its management of this year’s WTA Finals. There was no official confirmation that the event would be held in Mexico until last month. Leaving players having to make late changes to their scheduling with some having to pull out of the Billie Jean King Cup Finals which is taking place in Spain the week after. Furthermore, the stadium which will host every match wasn’t fully ready until the weekend the championships start. Players had the chance to train on practice courts before having a brief feel for the stadium. Although many are far from happy about the situation.
“I’m not happy that we couldn’t practice on the match court, meaning like on the stadium,” top seed and world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka commented during her pre-tournament press conference. “I think this is not the level for the WTA Finals. We literally have one hour today, like 45 minutes, to try the stadium. This is something what I’m not happy with. I’m pretty sure the rest of the players also not happy.
“At the same time, yes, I know we’re all in the same conditions. But this is not conditions for the WTA Finals. So it’s not great. I mean, usually we need like three to four days to kind of like adjust to conditions. But we’ll see. I guess it is how it is. But I hope that next year WTA will do a better job.”
Since 2019 no city has been selected to host the event for multiple years due to a variety of reasons. Shenzhen was set to host the event for years after signing a deal before the WTA postponed holding events in China amid concerns that former world No.1 Peng Shuai was being censored by authorities, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. Shuai accused a former government official of sexual assault. It was held in Mexico in 2021 and America in 2022.
“It’s surprised me that we didn’t get a chance yet to practice,” Elena Rybakina said of the current situation. “I think that’s the only day now. I’m going to get the first hit in the evening. Tomorrow I have to play the match, so this is a bit disappointing.
“But it is what it is. I guess we’re going to try to do our best to show good tennis, which is not going to be I think that easy with such windy conditions. But overall, I mean, Mexico is really nice. I think we just try to do our best here.”
Ons Jabeur, who is the first Arab woman in history to win a WTA title, is more diplomatic in her criticism but admits that she hopes that history will not repeat itself in the future. Paying tribute to those who have been involved in the construction of the venue.
“I mean, obviously as a player, I wish that the stadium was ready couple of days before in order to have a better preparation and everything,” she said.
“I don’t want to take the effort that the construction team had done for the past six weeks, I guess. I know they done a lot of hard work. I want to thank them for that.
“I’m not very happy that this is the first day we hit on the stadium. This is such a big event. We should have been able to be ready and hit on the court. Hopefully, this will never, ever, ever happen again. Like ever…”
Another to speak more positively is current Wimbledon champion Market Vondrousova who paid tribute to the work which is being done behind the scenes.
“I feel like everybody’s doing what’s in their power. It was such a short notice to build everything. I feel like everybody’s really trying. At least we could play today on the centre court. Overall it’s great here. The hotel is great. People are amazing.” The Czech stated.
“I feel for us it’s a bit tough to not play on a centre court maybe a little bit more. Still, I feel like everybody’s trying really hard, so that’s great.”
As for coping with the current issues, Poland’s Iga Swiatek says the only thing she and her peers can do is focus on what they can control.
“Today I had the chance to practice on the centre court for like 45 minutes for the first time,” she said. “It’s a little bit different than the practice courts.
“I guess to perform well here, you just have to kind of not care of everything that is going on around, just really focus on playing the best tennis possible.”
Amid the last-minute events related to this year’s WTA Finals, it is expected that the same will not occur in 2024. It is understood that Saudi Arabia will become the home of the event on a multi-year deal which could even be announced during this year’s tournament. Something that could cause some backlash with Saudi Arabia accused of using sport to improve their reputation damaged by wrongdoing. However, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman previously told Fox News that he doesn’t care about such allegations as long as they improved his country’s GDP.
It is understood that a new visit to Saudi Arabia by a WTA official recently occurred but for some unknown reason is being kept secret.
The WTA Finals will get underway on Sunday with Rybakina against Jessica Pegula, followed by Sabalenka taking on Maria Sakkari.
