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Marketa Vondrousova joined the growing chorus of players who have voiced their disappointment at the organizers of the WTA Finals in Cancun, Mexico, over inappropriate court conditions.
Vondrousova lost her debut match at the tournament to No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek. Despite leading 2-5 in the opening set, the Czech was pegged back by the Pole, who forced a tiebreaker. Swiatek won the first set 7-6 (3) and bageled Vondrousova in the second set to win the contest 7-6 (3), 6-0.
The reigning Wimbledon champion was not pleased by how the match turned out and took to Instagram to express her thoughts. In a story, the Czech No. 1 chided the court conditions in Cancun and slammed the WTA for not looking out for players. The stadium in Cancun was built from scratch by the WTA and was not ready until one day before the main draw action was set to begin.
"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. 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," Marketa Vondrousova wrote on Instagram.
"We do not feel that anyone listens to us and is interested in our opinion. Very sad. On the another note i am really grateful to all the people here in Mexico for being so nice and very helpful with everything," she added.
She also shared a video and an image from other matches to highlight how the sole court, on which the entire Finals will be played, is not up to standards.
The video was from the Maria Sakkari vs Aryna Sabalenka match, where an uneven bounce led to Sakkari losing a point. The image was from a doubles clash, showing that the court is not flat and has bumps.
"So so sad for all of us," she captioned the Story.
After the match against Swiatek, Marketa Vondrousova doubled down on her criticism in an interview with the Czech publication Radiožurnál Sport.
The 24-year-old pointed out that the court is not allowing for play to be faster. She also talked about how Swiatek's high kick serve was made even more troublesome due to the uneven bounce on the court.
“I have to say, this is pretty meaty. There are terrible bumps. If you want to play it quickly, it's not possible at all. It bounces all over the place. With her spins, it's hard to chase it there. I think the court is really bad," said Vondroušová.
"I played well until 5:2. On the contrary, I thought she served worse. But then she probably discovered that she can kick and turn outside, because it jumps like crazy here and there's nothing you can do about it. She found it and then returned well. Then it was one goal. If she gets caught, it doesn't work very well," she continued.
Marketa Vondrousova: "I'm glad to be here, but the conditions are really difficult"
Continuing to discuss her match, Marketa Vondrousova lamented the tough conditions that she and other players in Cancun have to endure.
She believes the court is not ready to host such a big tournament, and there is no one speaking up for the ordeals that all players are facing.
"I'm glad to be here, but the conditions are really difficult" The first set was good, and I want to take some positives from it. Otherwise, it's quite difficult here," said Vondroušová.
“There is a nice beach here, but overall the conditions are bad for us. Girls complain too. I think that the court is not ready for such matches to be played on it. There was no one behind us at all," Marketa Vondrousova told Radiožurnál Sport.
"We were training on Saturday and the bubbles were already there. It may not seem like it when people are looking at it, but then you completely lose the rhythm and just wait to see where it will jump. It either goes down or it jumps three meters up. I find it hard to move. They said they only put one coat of paint on it because they couldn't make it. The court is obviously not ready," she said.
Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Iga Swiatek, and Ons Jabeur have also spoken up about the difficulties at this year's WTA Finals, particularly slamming the delayed construction of the stadium.
Marketa Vondrousova, seeded No. 7, will next face Jabeur, seeded No. 6, on November 2. This will be a repeat of the Wimbledon final, where Vondrousova emerged victorious. In fact, the Czech has won all three matches against the Tunisian in 2023.
