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Despite widespread speculation that Saudi Arabia would play host to this year's WTA Finals, the country was ultimately denied the opportunity.
Cancun, Mexico, will play host to the Women's Tennis Association from October 28 to November 5, as previously announced. Fans of the sport are dismayed by the lack of WTA 1000 tournaments, despite the fact that many have previously been scheduled.
After the US Open, the next major tournaments are in Mexico at the Gaudalajara Open, Asia at the China Open, Mexico again at the WTA Finals in Cancun, and Spain at the Billie Jean King Cup in Seville. The top 10 players will have a hard time fitting these tournaments into their schedules.
The WTA has just confirmed the location and announced it via its official social media handle.
“Cancun, Mexico will host the 2023 season-ending WTA Finals from October 29th to November 5th. #WTAFinals," the tweet read.
Tennis fans were upset with this decision and hence took to X, formerly Twitter, to condemn such bizarre scheduling.
One of the users seemed pissed off and questioned whether the top 10 players would be able to make it to these events.
“Glad it’s not Saudi but man that’s a bizarre schedule: Guadalajara, then Asian swing, then back to Mexico, then BJK Cup in Seville. Rly screws players over and forced them to sacrifice big tournaments which sucks for them and the tour. How many top 10 players do Guadalajara??”, they tweeted.
Another fan was startled by the late decision to finalize the venue after all the chaos, citing the time difference.
“52 days before the event they finally found somewhere to hold it. Finals of main team event named in honour of Billie Jean King is 7 time zones away in Seville immediately afterwards. Shambles.”
Yet another user was upset with the management and drew parallels between ATP and WTA, calling out the latter and coming up with a suggestion of his own.
"Absolutely reckless management and scheduling, atp is way better and simple US to China to Europe indoor season, being a wta player is a nightmare mexico off to japan to china back to mexico again? Really? Most players are from europe why not host it in europe?"
Here are a few more reactions from tennis fans towards this decision:
"Worst idea EVER. OK,slightly less worse than having it in Saudi Arabia,but still. How do you expect players to participate in Asia swing,then go to Cancun and then go to BJK CUP finals in Sevilla? Have you no respect for your top 10 players?" a fan said.
"Wow, you did it!! You managed to find a venue a month and a half before the start of the event. Kudos", another user chimed in.
"Wta is such a bad organisation, doesnt care about players at all.." they tweeted.
"So again it’s time for players to pay with their health for WTA’s inefficiency? Everybody sees what devoid of control and decency association it is. SHAME. Why its execs hold no accountability for repetitive failure? WHY?" another fan wrote.
Victoria Azarenka takes a dig at WTA
During a press conference at this year's Dubai Tennis Championships, Victoria Azarenka stated that the World Tennis Association (WTA) would benefit from having younger people in positions of power. She believed that the organization could better cater to the demands of its younger fans and spectators if that were the case.
“I want to see a lot of things grow. Unfortunately, we are dealing with so many moving parts that changes are hard. We also have so many people who are - with no disrespect - but older generation that may be harder to see the future. I do feel that,” Victoria Azarenka said.
She continued by saying the sport is not time-friendly and calling for better scheduling on the tour. It is worth remembering that in 2022, both tennis fans and players equally criticized the WTA's scheduling.
“I do feel that tennis needs to change, it needs to grow, it needs to become more quicker in terms of timing. It needs to change the schedule,” Victoria Azarenka pointed.
