"All players should withdraw immediately, refusing to play this nonsense" - Latest update from PTPA about incomplete WTA Finals stadium enrages fans

After all the back-and-forth about the 2023 WTA Finals' location, it was finally set in stone in September that Cancun, Mexico, would host the year-end tournament. However, pictures and videos of the under-construction stadium in Cancun have been spreading like wildfire on the internet the past few days.

According to the grapevine, the stadium, which has been showered with a whopping $6 million by the WTA and tailored to hold 4,000 spectators, was expected to be open for players to practice by Thursday, October 26. But the deadline has evidently elapsed and a fresh date of October 28 has now been set.

Most of the players, including Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, and Coco Gauff, have already touched down in Cancun. These players are reportedly practicing on their hotel courts to prepare for the WTA Finals

The Professional Tennis Players Association's (PTPA) Player Relations team, which arrived in Cancun on Friday, October 27, published a couple of pictures and a video of the stadium still under construction just one day prior to the start of the tournament.

The PTPA, founded by Novak Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil in 2019, is a group that represents singles and doubles players from both the ATP and WTA tours.

Tennis fans took notice of the PTPA's update and immediately began criticizing the WTA. One of the fans urged the players to withdraw from the tournament tournament and chastised the WTA for allocating the event to Cancun in the first place.

“All top 8 players should withdraw immediately, refusing to play this nonsense and supporting Ostrava who should have these finals since the beginning. WTA gave this to this 3rd world country for a bribe and here are the effects. Steve Simon should resign immediately,” they wrote.

Another fan voiced their concern about the fans, given the stadium's foundation was built on grass. The possibility of rain as per the forecast could make things difficult for the spectators in the stands.

“Is it safe for fans to sit on structure put directly on grass without any reinforcement? A few hundred people weight quite a bit and if it rains (which is forecast to happen)… everything can just slide down,” they tweeted.

Here are a few more reactions from tennis enthusiasts:

The incomplete WTA Finals stadium was earlier called out by Aryna Sabalenka and her team

Sabalenka disappointed with WTA

Aryna Sabalenka hit the practice courts on Wednesday, October 25, but the Belarusian star's team was reportedly unhappy with the playing conditions.

After discovering that only two practice courts would be up for grabs before the season-ending championship kicks off on Sunday, October 29, her coach Antonio Dubrov shared a video on his Instagram story, which he captioned:

"2 practice courts till Saturday. 1 stringer on site," bringing to light the seemingly less than acceptable level of preparedness on site.

Aryna Sabalenka then re-shared her coach's post on her Instagram account.