The WTA has confirmed to Ubitennis that negotiations for hosting the 2024 WTA Finals are ongoing and no decision has been taken yet.
This year’s season-ending finals have been criticized by some players over the court’s conditions and lack of preparation. It wasn’t until September that Cancun was announced as the host city of this year’s event. A stadium for the event had to be built and wasn’t fully completed until the weekend it started. Giving players little time to practice on the court before playing their matches.
“My first WTA Finals is not at all what I imagined. We work hard all year to get to the finals and in the end it’s just a disappointment,” Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova wrote earlier this week.
“(The) stadium is not at all ready for the matches and to me it feels like the people from 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.”
WTA CEO Steve Simon recently said in an interview with The Athletic that his organization only had four months to find a venue and didn’t want to commit to any long-term agreement. The reason why they only had four months was because they were unable to reach an agreement with Shenzhen which hosted the event in 2019. China had previously signed a multi-year deal to host the event before the COVID-19 pandemic began. Then all WTA tournaments set to be held in China last year were suspended due to concerns that former world No.1 Peng Shuai was being censored by authorities after she accused a former government official of sexual assault.
As for the future, the governing body of women’s tennis confirmed that they are in discussions with ‘various groups’ regarding where the WTA Finals could be headed next with Saudi Arabia understood to be a key contender. The WTA didn’t comment when asked if they have held any meetings with members of the Saudi Tennis Federation in recent weeks. Although sources have claimed that there was a recent visit made to the country by a senior official.
The Middle Eastern nation will be highly appealing to the WTA due to its high investment and growing expansion into the world of sports. Saudi Arabia is the next host of the ATP Next Gen finals and will hold a series of exhibition matches later this year. However, officials have been accused of using sport to cover up their human rights violations.
Another concern is related to LGBT players playing in a country where homosexuality is illegal. According to The Athletic, it was claimed that the WTA advised players who may feel uncomfortable playing in the country due to this reason to say ‘I’m happy to play wherever the WTA Finals is hosted, it’s a prestigious event.’
When asked for clarity on this by Ubitennis, the WTA confirmed that the document sent to players was to make them aware of some topics that might come up during their press conferences. The messaging and statements outlined were provided to help players ‘think and prepare’ for their own responses. However, they state that the organization would never tell a player what to say with their job being to guide them.
The WTA concludes that its priority is continuing to build a strong future for women’s tennis.
