Iga Swiatek hits out as 'unacceptable' tennis backlash rocks WTA Finals

Iga Swiatek has joined a growing list of tennis stars hitting out at the women's governing body over playing conditions for the season-ending tournament in Mexico. Three-time major winner Swiatek echoed concerns from World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka around the safety of the playing surface in Cancun, with the Belarusian slamming the organisation of the event as "not acceptable" from the women's governing body.

The WTA only confirmed the venue for the season-ending tournament in September after scrapping original plans to hold it in Saudi Arabia. Construction of the court and stands were only completed in the days before the event got underway in the Mexican resort of Cancun, giving players precious little time to prepare on the playing surface.

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Considering the WTA Finals is only reserved for the top-eight female players in the world come season's end, Sabalenka described it as an unacceptable situation after her opening victory against Maria Sakkari and "another level of disrespect" from the WTA. "To be honest, I don't feel safe moving on this court a lot of the time," Sabalenka said.

"The bounce is not consistent at all and we weren't able to practise on this court until yesterday for the first time. It's just not acceptable to me with so much on the line and so much at stake. As I said in my press conference tonight, as a player I really feel disrespected by the WTA. I think most of us do."

Half of the eight women who have played across the opening two days in Cancun have now complained about the temporary outdoor hard court which has been built on top of a golf course. The consensus has been that the surface doesn't allow for solid footing, the balls bounce oddly and inconsistently and the hastiness with which it was thrown together means players have not had adequate time to get accustomed to it.

Iga Swiatek challenges WTA over court in Mexico

The WTA defended the court as meeting its "strict performance standards" but after her opening 7-6 (7-3) 6-0 win against Marketa Vondrousova on Tuesday, Swiatek also slammed the playing conditions. "It's not a positive thing for any of us," Swiatek said.

"It's not comfortable, and the fact that we also didn't have time to practice. The Pole's defeated opponent Vondrousova was even more blunt and described the court as "honestly, very bad. It's very crazy." She said it felt "like bad clay or grass courts" and "I don't think this court is very good for the WTA Finals, to be honest."

Swiatek's next opponent is American Coco Gauff, who breezed past three-time major runner-up Ons Jabeur 6-0 6-1 in a round-robin match interrupted by rain. It was the first WTA Finals victory for the 19-year-old US Open champion, who went 0-3 in singles at the season-ending championship in 2022.

Players slam court, take aim at 'disrespect' from WTA

Last year's Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina was another to take a swipe at the conditions in Cancun after her straight-sets loss to Jessica Pegula on the opening day. "I don't really want to talk (about the court), but of course, it's not good," the Kazakh said. "Everything was late and (there was) no time to fix anything."

Each of the past five editions of the WTA Finals have been held in a different city. Sabalenka - who will end 2023 as World No.1 if she makes the final of the tournament or goes through the round robin phase undefeated - said despite the convincing win in her opening match that the governing body of women's tennis had a lot to answer for.

"It's another level of disrespect from the WTA for the players, because sometimes they don't even feel safe to move on this court," Sabalenka said. "That's not the level I expect from the WTA Finals.

"Thank you for this challenge I'm facing right now, to learn how to adapt quick to the conditions. Thank you for that. But this is not something I expect from such a high-level tournament."

The one-year agreement for the WTA Finals to be held in Cancun was only reached last month after negotiations with Saudi Arabia broke down. "We're pleased to host the WTA Finals in Cancun for the first time and worked hard to construct a stadium where the world's top eight women's tennis players and doubles teams compete head-to-head," the WTA said in a statement.

"The team has worked diligently on an expedited timeline amid weather challenges to ensure the stadium and court meet our strict performance standards."

with agencies

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