World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka has accused the WTA of ‘disrespecting’ their players at the season-ending championships after getting off to a clinical start.
The reigning Australian Open champion dropped only one game during her 6-0, 6-1, win over Greece’s Maria Sakkari in what was the most one-sided match (in terms of games won) to take place at a WTA Finals tournament since 2011. She is also only the third player to win an opening set 6-0 at the event since 2003 when the round-robin format was re-introduced. Sabalenka hit a total of 17 winners and capitalized on 19 unforced errors produced by Sakkari.
“The score looks really easy, but it wasn’t an easy match,” Sabalenka said. “I’m super happy to win this match, especially against Maria, someone who was such a big fighter and all these tough matches against her.”
Sabalenka now leads Sakkari 7-3 in their head-to-head and has won all three of their meetings that have taken place this season. The win has boosted her chances of ending 2023 at the top of the WTA rankings but she still faces a challenge from Iga Swiatek who will begin her campaign on Monday.
Despite her one-sided victory, the Belarussian has vented her frustration with the governing body of women’s tennis over their management of the event so far. This year’s WTA Finals has been marred by controversy with organisers not announcing Cancun as the venue of the tournament until last month. Forcing some players to pull out of the Billie Jean King Cup Finals which is taking place in Spain next week. Furthermore, the stadium wasn’t fully ready until the weekend the tournament started which gave players little time to get used to it.
“I am very disappointed with the WTA and the experience so far at the WTA Finals. As a player, I feel disrespected by the WTA. I think most of us do,” Sabalenka wrote on Instagram.
“This is not the level of organisation we expect for the Finals. To be honest, I don’t feel safe moving on this court a lot of the time, the bounce is not consistent at all, and we weren’t able to practice 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.”
“I definitely want to show my appreciation for the local tournament organisers, everyone that built the court at the last minute, and everyone that’s working here at the event. I know it’s not their fault and I want them to know, as well as all the Mexican fans, that I love them and appreciate them. I’m very happy to be in Mexico, I’m just upset with the WTA and this situation.”
In a brief interview with The Athletic on Friday, WTA CEO Steve Simon said his organization only had four months to find a venue for the WTA Finals and didn’t want to rush into a long-term agreement. It is looking increasingly likely that from 2024, it will be held in Saudi Arabia as part of a multi-year deal. Ubitennis understands that a secret visit to the Middle Eastern country was made by an official from the WTA earlier this month.
Sabalenka isn’t the only person to have publically criticized the WTA with some of her peers during so during media day on Saturday in Cancun. Meanwhile, Elena Rybakina says the last-minute preparations affected the quality of her match against Jessica Pegula which she lost 7-5, 6-2. In that match, both players committed a total of 51 unforced errors compared to just 24 winners.
“It’s not easy here. Everyone is struggling. Everyone is trying to do their best,” Rybakina said afterward.
“As I said, I’m not really happy with the conditions and the set up of the tournament.’
“About the court, I don’t really want to talk. But of course, it’s not good. For sure not for the final eight because everything was late and there was no time to fix anything. You can see by the rallies and the shanks we both hit. I think the quality of the match wasn’t the greatest. But as I said, I tried to do my best.”
The second day of the WTA Finals will feature Swiatek against Marketa Vondrousova followed by Coco Gauff taking on Ons Jabeur.
