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A beach hotel in Cancun. The 8 most productive tennis players in the world. $9 million and the world No. 1 spot at stake. What can go wrong? If you’ve been following the WTA Finals this week, you should know that the answer is pretty much everything.
The prestigious event won via Iga Swiatek on Monday night, crushing Jessica Pegula to win the final tournament of the season and take the most sensible spot in the year-end world. But for years to come, the 2023 WTA Finals will be remembered as the tournament that spewed out a thousand memes, sinking into charade as tropical storms lashed the transitional arena in the Gulf of Mexico. Like the ill-fated Fyre Festival, the WTA Finals was a tournament that promised taste and luxury, but it sank into darkness and seemed to meet a new challenge at every turn.
In the end, the decision to hold a hurricane season outdoors, just steps from the coast, proved absolutely comical. That is, if only the apparent disorders of disorganization were not so serious. Aryna Sabalenka seemed to sum up the situation: “I’m dying of laughter or maybe crying,” she posted. As it rained, Sabalenka, with a towel on her head, found herself chasing the dark sky with a pleading air, like Mother Teresa. there was Coco Gauff, clutching an umbrella as if her life depended on it, before giving up with a sigh of resignation as she occasionally warped and warped.
Such is the weather in Cancun that Coco Guff’s umbrella literally collapsed pic. twitter. com/HsyNL68PT9
– The Tennis Newsletter (@TheTennisLetter) November 4, 2023
The players were fed up, the games were suspended and the final was postponed until Monday. The game was rarely marred by turbulent winds and difficult situations. Water flooded the transition site and trembling dancers worked tirelessly to clean the courts. However, before the weather took a turn for the worse, the players were already unhappy. Sabalenka said she felt “disrespected” after arriving in Cancun where she discovered a plot built on the most sensible of a golf course, which produced an asymmetrical bounce. Given the situations and the way the final unfolded in Cancun, WTA chief executive Steve Simon came under increasing pressure. Martina Navratilova, an 18-time Grand Slam champion, said it would be difficult for Simon to reach last week’s crisis.
“I’m so sad for all of us,” Vondrousova posted on Instagram and, when the Wimbledon champion left Cancun after the organizational stages after betting three times and losing three, it seemed like returning home after all brought her some relief. “We worked hard all year to triumph in the final and in the end it’s just a disappointment,” Vondrousova said. [The] stadium is not fit for any match and I feel like the other people in [the] WTA surely aren’t. We feel like no one listens to us and doesn’t care about our opinions.
Such strong words demanded a reaction from the WTA. Tour staff say they pay attention to players and incorporate their feedback into their decision-making process. Simon held an assembly with the players in Cancun where he accepted the duty of the terms and admitted that “not “The best event”. The decision to hold the WTA Finals outdoors in Cancun, he said, “is based on a number of complex factors,” but it is he who is now under increasing scrutiny.
For starters, Cancun’s designation as the host of the WTA Finals just two months before the tournament’s start on Oct. 29 left Simon and the WTA exposed to accusations of complicating their lives. The search for a venue in early September dates back to a 10-year contract to host the final in Shenzhen, China, which produced just one tournament in 2019. Then Covid hit and the contract was cancelled in the middle of the crisis. times through the WTA in China due to concerns about Peng Shuai’s well-being, and the finals have since been moved to select venues.
After stops in Guadalajara in 2021 and Fort Worth, Texas in 2022, where the unfortunate attendance was also due to the delayed announcement of the host venue, Cancun has been unveiled for 2023. The hotel resisted a rival offer from the Czech city of Ostrava, which submitted a four-year contract, but also threatened that Sabalenka, the pre-tournament world number one and Australian Open champion, would not be allowed to enter the country because she is Belarusian. It turns out that there is a similar fear about Vera Zvonareva, who is Russian, and who will win the doubles title in Cancun alongside his German wife Laura Siegemund.
As a result, the WTA Players’ Council subsidized Cancun’s bid, amid rumors of a Saudi Arabian bid. The fact that the WTA and Cancun have only signed a one-year agreement suggests that Saudi Arabia’s option of the 2024 WTA Finals and the 2024 Billie Jean King Trophy will resurface next year, a concept that will remain moot as long as the values of the WTA’s equality principles face complaints of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record and the legislation that criminalizes LGBTQ people.
But in 2023, the exhibition continued in Mexico, which had also hosted a popular WTA 1000 event in Guadalajara and, thanks to that, had earned a reputation among its passionate audience. Cancun, however, was another and lacked particular amenities. Designed to host a first tennis tournament. The organization of the final required the construction of a temporary stadium with a capacity of 4,000 seats on the grounds of a luxury complex. When the eight best players in the world started arriving, they found a place of structure and a fit box that was not in a condition to train. The box was not finished until the day before the start of the tournament, leaving little time for the players to adapt to the conditions. When they were still able to practice, they discovered the surface uncomfortable to play on.
“It’s not the organizing point we expect for the final,” Sabalenka said after her maiden win over Maria Sakkari. “To be honest, I don’t feel maximum time on this court, the rebounds aren’t consistent at all. It’s just not appropriate for me with so much at stake and so much at stake.
For many players, the situations they faced in the final were just the tip of an iceberg that summed up their past grievances against the WTA. The tournament came at the end of a season that saw separate storms of sexism at the Italian Open and in Madrid. Open, and in October, an organization of prominent players signed a letter to the WTA raising considerations about salaries and timing. “Changes would possibly take time, but everything we do is a direct result of collaboration and open dialogue. “the WTA said in a statement. ” As we have shared with the players, the WTA is actively implementing express innovations and we are committed to reviewing player proposals while preserving a strong future for the Tour and women’s tennis. “
But women’s tennis is facing an era of crisis and lacks strong leadership. The WTA Finals schedule in Cancun has given the players two days to play the Billie Jean King Cup in Seville, now that the team occasion is played over six days. Swiatek and Pegula had already withdrawn from the tournament but reportedly had no selection after the singles final was postponed until Monday. Australian doubles player Ellen Perez had 14 hours to travel from Cancun to Seville for a 10 a. m. attack. “This programming disaster,” he said.
By the time the singles final was played on Monday night, the typhoon had passed. Swiatek dealt with the tricky court well enough to beat Pegula 6-1, 6-0 and win the WTA final for the first time, with the four-time Grand Slam. The champion reaffirms her position in the most sensible standings after her impressive semi-final win over Sabalenka. At Swiatek’s trophy presentation, Simon booed many enthusiasts who had saved their tickets for the revamped centerpiece.
“Maybe it’s time for new leadership,” Navratilova said, suggesting it’s time for a woman to take the WTA director’s seat. “It’s going to be hard for Steve to stay in his position, because now it’s going the other way. “”So, after the rain, the storms and the controversy, the sound of booing signals the conclusion of the final.
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