{"id":295324,"date":"2023-11-03T15:54:56","date_gmt":"2023-11-03T15:54:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/?p=295324"},"modified":"2023-11-03T15:54:56","modified_gmt":"2023-11-03T15:54:56","slug":"swiatek-sabalenka-and-co-have-every-right-to-hit-out-as-wta-finals-row-goes-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/tennis\/swiatek-sabalenka-and-co-have-every-right-to-hit-out-as-wta-finals-row-goes-on\/","title":{"rendered":"Swiatek, Sabalenka and co have every right to hit out as WTA Finals row goes on"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Top players at this week\u2019s WTA Finals have made it very clear that they aren\u2019t happy with several elements at the season-ending championships. World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka said she felt \u201cdisrespected\u201d by the level of organisation at the tournament. Four-time Major winner Iga Swiatek also commented on the lack of crowds in Cancun. While some believe that the players are doing the tournament a disservice by voicing their frustrations, they have every right to be using their voices if private conversations aren\u2019t working.<\/p>\n

The WTA has taken a lot of heat this week as the season-ending championships have gotten underway in Cancun. With the host city announced eight weeks before the tournament started, there was minimal time to prepare and the court construction was only completed on Saturday, the day before play got underway.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, the WTA provided a statement responding to the criticism over the court, saying they \u201cworked hard\u201d to construct the stadium. \u201cThe team has worked diligently on an expedited timeline amid weather challenges to ensure the stadium and court meet our strict performance standards,\u201d it read.<\/p>\n

Still, that hasn\u2019t stopped some of the elite top eight from lashing out at the conditions. \u201cI have to say though that I am very disappointed with the WTA and the experience so far at the WTA Finals. As I said in my press conference tonight, as a player I really feel disrespected by the WTA. I think most of us do. This is not the level of organisation we expect for the Finals,\u201d Australian Open champion Sabalenka said at the start of the week.<\/p>\n

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The world No 1 said she didn\u2019t feel safe \u201cmoving on this court a lot of the time\u201d, noting its late completion while WTA Finals debutant Marketa Vondrousova said the tournament was a \u201cdisappointment\u201d. She added: \u201cStadium 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. We do not feel that anyone listens to us and is interested in our opinion. Very sad.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a late decision on the host city for the WTA Finals, Swiatek spoke out about the turnaround at the event. \u201cObviously, they decided late that we were going to play here. It\u2019s clear that marketing should be better. It’s a shame we don’t have a full stadium and we don’t really feel like we’re at the tennis party all week. But it’s like that,\u201d the 16-time title winner said.<\/p>\n

When it comes to seeing some empty seats in Cancun, some have argued that it could be the product of the players voicing their frustrations with the conditions of the tournament and it would be better if the likes of Sabalenka and co chose not to publicly air their grievances with the WTA. But the players have every right to speak out if they feel as though their tour has failed them.<\/p>\n