Marketa Vondrousova has become the latest player to criticise organisers at the controversy-stricken WTA Finals following her straight sets loss to Iga Swiatek.
Vondrousova, who won her maiden Grand Slam title in July at Wimbledon, has branded the event a ‘disappointment’ for her so far. The Czech struggled to get to grips with the court during her 7-6(3), 6-0, loss to Swiatek. Hitting a total of 23 unforced errors against just six winners.
Following her opening defeat, Vondrousova blasted the WTA on Instagram where she complained that the stadium to hold the WTA Finals is not fully ready. Cancun was officially named as the host city of the tournament last month. A stadium has been built but work on the venue wasn’t fully completed until the same weekend as the tournament started. Giving players little time to practice on the court.
“My first WTA Finals is not at all what I imagined. We worked hard all year to get to the Finals and in the end it’s just a disappointment,” Vondrousova wrote.
The world No.6 goes on to accuse the WTA of failing to address the concerns of players. Whilst there has been a lot of criticism from players in recent days, the governing body of women’s tennis has so far not commented on the current situation.
“Stadium is not at all ready for the matches and to me it feels like the people from the WTA are absolutely not interested in how we, who are supposed to play on that court, feel. We do not feel that anyone listens to us and is interested in our opinions. Very sad.” She stated.
Vondrousova’s comments come a day after world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka accused the WTA of being disrespectful to players and said she ‘doesn’t feel safe playing on the court.’ She also points out the inconsistent ball bouncing occurring on the court.
Meanwhile, Swiatek has said that the condition of the court is ‘not a positive thing for any of us (players)’ but the only consolation is that it is affecting everybody which makes it fair in the tournament.
“I think the main thing is not focusing on that and just doing your job,” Swiatek said during her press conference.
“Sometimes it (the ball) bounces weirdly on the clay and grass as well. I try to think in that perspective and just do my job.’
“For sure, it’s not comfortable. The fact we also didn’t have time to practice on the court, you know. But in the end it doesn’t really matter because all of us have the same court and the same conditions.”
