Ons Jabeur 'Frustrated' By Lack Of Information Concerning WTA Finals - UBITENNIS
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Ons Jabeur ‘Frustrated’ By Lack Of Information Concerning WTA Finals

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Ons Jabeur (TUN) - Credit: AELTC/Florian Eisele

It is the biggest tournament outside of the Grand Slams in terms of prize money and ranking points on offer but the venue of this year’s WTA Finals remains a mystery. 

 

The end-of-season tournament features the eight highest-ranked players on the women’s Tour battling it out in a round-robin format with the top two players of each group progressing to the knockout stages. In 2022 France’s Caroline Garcia won the biggest title of her career at the event and earned $1.57M in prize money when it was held in Fort Worth, Texas. It was the third time in a row that the WTA Finals has been staged at a different venue. 

In 2019 China signed a deal to host the event for a set amount of years in the city of Shenzhen before the WTA decided to suspend all of their tournaments in the country due to concerns that authorities were censoring former world No.1 Peng Shuai. Shuai made allegations of sexual assault against a former government official. The governing body of women’s tennis has decided to end their boycott this season but there is still no word regarding the season-ending tournament. 

Ons Jabeur made her debut at the WTA Finals last year where she became the first Arab player in history to do so. Speaking to reporters at the Western and Southern Open, the three-time major finalist admits she is feeling frustrated about the current situation.

“It’s frustrating. I don’t know what’s happening and why we don’t know yet. We are waiting,” she said.
“I heard a few cities. I’m not sure where. Some say Saudi. I’m not sure. It could be a great option for me, to be honest. But I need to qualify first and then see.”

Saudi Arabia is known to be moving closer to investing in tennis via their public Investment Fund but there has been no indication of the country hosting the WTA Finals. Ubitennis has previously confirmed via a source familiar with the situation that the Next Gen Finals will be held in Jeddah after the Davis Cup finals with a contract expected to be signed at some point this month.

Meanwhile, China has let out virtually no information regarding their intentions except one document. In January this year, an article published on the regional Shenzhen Government website said ‘The third (goal) is to focus on consumption growth…hosting high-level events such as the Shenzhen marathon, Shenzhen WTA Finals etc.’ The article was a summary of a High Quality Development Conference that took place with attendees including regional politicians. 

 “I wish they can take the decision as soon as possible so we would know where we want to go and the fans would know so we don’t have empty stadiums and we can promote, you know, the WTA Finals as soon as possible,” Jabeur commented. 

It is not the first time that the WTA has left it until later in the year to announce the host of their premier event. In 2022 it wasn’t until September that they published details of the Fort Worth tournament. 

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Czech Republic’s Marie Bouzkova Hires Ex-Wimbledon Champion As Coach

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Image via https://twitter.com/AustralianOpen/

Marie Bouzkova has enlisted the help of Gabine Muguruza’s former coach to help her crack the top 20 in the new year. 

 

The 25-year-old Czech has appointed Conchita Martinez as her new coach for the upcoming season. A former world No.2 player who won 33 WTA titles during her career, including the 1994 Wimbledon championships. After retirement, Martinez ventured into coaching with her most notable success being with Garbine Muguruza which earned her the honor of being named WTA Coach of The Year in 2021. She has also previously mentored Karoline Pliskova, captained her country’s Billie Jean King Cup team and most recently served as tournament director of the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup Finals.

“Since February I have taken advantage of the time to rest, after some intense years of travelling. Now I have the energy to train again and enjoy my work. I am very happy to be able to contribute my experience again,” Martinez said during an interview with Eurosport Spain.
“Her (Bouzkova’s) agent contacted me to inquire about my availability and to ask if I wanted to train again. And now that we are at the end of the year and after evaluating everything, I have decided that it was a good time to return because I am excited about the project.”

Buzkova is a former US Open junior champion who is currently ranked 34th in the world. She has won one WTA title so far in her career which was at the 2022 Prague Open. She also reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon in 2022 which is her best Grand Slam run to date. This season, Bouzkova was runner-up at a WTA 250 event in Nanchang, China and produced an overall win-loss record of 27-23.

Despite her success, Martinez believes Bouzkova has plenty of room for improvement in her game. 

“I love her because she is a very feisty and competitive player. She has many to continue growing and improving as a tennis player. She is very professional and is focused on her work 100%,” she commented.
“Honestly, I think it has a lot of room for improvement in many aspects. It is true that she is quite complete, but I would like to focus on her gradually playing more aggressively without losing her essence as a great fighter. I definitely think she has the potential to be high in the rankings, but it takes time to work on.”

Bouzkova is also an accomplished doubles player who is currently ranked in the world’s top 30. She has won five WTA doubles trophies with two of those triumphs occuring during 2023. 

The new tennis season begins in less than a month. 

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Emma Raducanu To Begin Comeback In Auckland

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Emma Raducanu - Cincinnati 2022 (foto Twitter @cincytennis)

Former US Open champion Emma Raducanu will end her eight-month absence from tennis at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, at the start of next year. 

 

The 21-year-old has been sidelined from the Tour since April after undergoing surgery to treat issues with both of her wrists, as well as one ankle. Raducanu hasn’t played a Tour-level match since the Porsche Open in Germany where she was beaten 6-2, 6-1, by Jelena Ostapenko in the first round. This year she has only managed to play in four tournaments with her best performance occurring at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells where she reached the fourth round. 

It will be the second year in a row that the Brit has opted to start her season in New Zealand. At the start of 2023, she won her opening match at the event but rolled her ankle in the process which forced her to withdraw from the tournament. 

Raducanu’s decision to play in Auckland comes as she faces the prospect of having to go through qualifying at the Australian Open. She has a protected ranking of 103 which is significantly higher than her current position of 296. However, she has not made the cut-off to play in the main draw. The only way she can enter the main draw will be with the help of a series of withdrawals, receiving a wildcard or playing three rounds of qualifying. 

Should she have to play qualifying at Melbourne Park, the event will follow immediately after the ASB Classic. The last time she took part in a Grand Slam qualifying draw was at the 2021 US Open where she stunned the field by going on to win the title in what remains her only WTA trophy to date. 

Raducanu, who has been ranked as high as 13th in the world, is understood to have been training at the National Tennis Center in recent weeks leading up to her return. It is still not known who will be coaching her in 2024 with the tennis player yet to comment on the topic.

The ASB Classic will begin on January 1st. 

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Iga Swiatek Criticises WTA’s Reform Of 2024 Calendar

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Iga Swiatek has hit out at the WTA by claiming that only a handful of players were made aware of changes being made to the Tour calendar before they came into effect.

 

In recent weeks there has been an increase in frustration among players on the women’s Tour with letters being sent to the head of the WTA, Steve Simon, about their concerns. Swiatek has also sent her own letter to the governing body. According to The Athletic, some of the concerns that have been raised relates to higher pay on the Tour, adjustments to scheduling to help support players, expanded childcare and calls for a member of the PTPA to be present on the WTA Player’s Council.

The WTA has also been in the firing line concerning their management of the Tour finals which took place in Cancun last month and was won by Switek. Some of those who took part complained about the court conditions and lack of preparation they had. The stadium court wasn’t fully constructed until the same weekend the tournament began. 

Although, for the world No.1 her principle criticism concerns the 2024 calendar and the rules in place reagrding playing in mandatory events. Swiatek says some of the decisions have been made following discussions with ‘third parties’ and believes players are not being listened to. 

“There is room for improvement,” she said during an interview with newspaper Rzeczpospolita.
“As players, we are dissatisfied with the calendar for next year and the increase in the number of mandatory tournaments and restrictions related to withdrawing from them.’
“We want to change this. We need more balance and time to get back home. Sometimes, however, we beat our heads against the wall. Some decisions seem to be the result of promises made to third parties, federations and tournament organizers.’
“We find out about them after the fact. This causes frustration. Only a handful of players were aware of the calendar reform and the WTA cannot lead to such a situation again, since it considers itself an organization created for tennis players.”

The 22-year-old argues that these changes would give players more time to rest and see their families. Although Swiatek admits that she is in a more fortunate situation than some of her peers from a financial perspective. This season the Pole has earned $9,857,686 in prize money this year which is more than any other female player. 

“I hope that we will be able to change something – for example in the rules regarding withdrawing from tournaments,” she continued.
“Fortunately, I am in a situation where I can afford for my family to go on a trip with me, but not everyone can afford it. Many players rather save all their money to pay their coaches.’
“However, there is a difference between taking your family with you and returning home, when you can wash your clothes and spend time in the place where you grew up. I often miss Warsaw.”

Swiatek has won 68 out of 79 matches played this season, claiming six titles on the Tour. In the Grand Slams, she won the French Open, and reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon and the fourth round at the other two. She currently has a 245-point lead over second-place Aryna Sabalenka in the WTA standings. 

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