It is hard to fault Elise Mertens’ commitment to her country after what has been a chaotic past three days, to say the least.
On Monday the Belgian was battling on court at the WTA Finals in Fort Worth where she and partner Veronika Kudermetova prevailed in a tense encounter to lift the title. In doing so she became the first player from her country to win the doubles trophy at the season-ending event. However, Mertens didn’t have much time to celebrate. In fact, whilst conducting her media commitments she was preparing for a mad dash to the airport.
The 26-year-old took a total of three flights in order to join her team at this week’s Billie Jean King Cup. She didn’t arrive in Glasgow until 21:47 local time on Tuesday night but still managed to participate in a doubles match today which she won alongside Kirsten Flipkens.
“I would be frustrated if I lost but we won, so this is all good,” BBC Sport quoted Mertens as saying in her press conference.
“I had my flight at 10pm [from Fort Worth] and I was still doing media at 8:15pm.
“We rushed. I barely showered. We got to the airport at like 8:55pm. They said we had four minutes for the bags. One bag on the scale. Two minutes. Oh, my God.
“My mom and I ran to the gate and we made it. Then three flights, we went to Madrid, went to London, and then to Glasgow.
“It’s been quite a journey.”
The short turnaround between the WTA Finals and the Billie Jean King Cup has been criticized by some players, including Iga Swiatek who confirmed earlier this year that she will not be playing at the team event. In a post on Instagram, the Pole criticized tennis’ governing bodies’ organization of their calendar and warned that having events this close together poses an injury risk to players.
Besides Mertens, Coco Gauff is another player who has opted to play in both events. In a recent telephone interview with The Palm Beach Post, the 18-year-old says she has extra motivation to play in Glasgow following her performance at the WTA Finals. Gauff lost all six matches she played at the tournament.
“It’s definitely a trip, but finishing the year off on this note will be great for me,’’ she said.
“Texas didn’t go the way I wanted it to go. That motivated me even more to come here, Gauff continued. “It’s very rare tennis experiences a team atmosphere. I played other team sports like basketball. That’s the one thing I did miss from playing (basketball). The Billie Jean Cup is what brings you closest to that.’’
During an interview with Reuters last month, ITF CEO David Haggerty said his organization is working with the WTA to ensure there is a ‘better transition between the two competitions’ next season.
The exact dates for 2023 are still to be confirmed as negotiations concerning the venue of next year’s WTA Finals continue.
