Amid a climate of chaos and controversy at the WTA Finals in Cancún, Iga Swiatek has largely kept her counsel.
As her rivals lambasted the governing body of the women’s game over the 11th-hour scheduling of the showpiece event on a hastily-constructed court in a Caribbean beach resort at the height of the hurricane season, Swiatek merely ventured that the uneven playing surface was “not a positive” and the wider situation “not comfortable”.
But that stance changed following the Polish world No 2’s 6-0, 7-5 victory over Coco Gauff on Wednesday, as Swiatek took aim at the organisation over next season’s restructured calendar.
A revamped programme, announced during Wimbledon, will see more WTA 1000 events become mandatory in 2024, with a 10th tournament in the tour’s top-tier category pencilled in for October. Seven WTA 1000 tournaments will be extended to take place over two weeks, mirroring this year’s expansion of the ATP 1000 events in Madrid, Rome and Shanghai. Factor in the four grand slams and the addition of four new WTA 500 events, and it is a lot of tennis; too much, according to Swiatek.
“We are participating in a season that is very taxing, and the next one will be even more intense,” the 22-year-old told Polish media. “We feel like we’re beating our heads against the wall. Everything has already been decided without consulting us, and now we are looking for a solution how we can reach a compromise.
“It would be nice if the WTA shared its plans with us before making decisions. It’s supposed to be an organisation of women’s players, but we have nothing to say. It took us some time to gather into one group and take joint action.”
“We’re really united to have an impact and to do something,” Swiatek added during the English phase of her press conference. “We are not happy with some things, and we want to change the schedule for next year.
“We’re going to have [many] more mandatory tournaments and it’s going to have a huge negative impact on our health and wellbeing. I’m 22, and I played two of the most intense seasons in my life. I already feel like it’s going to be tough for me to continue for so many years ahead if the WTA is going to go that way, to increase the amount of mandatory tournaments.
“Most of the tournaments are going to be 1000 tournaments, and are going to be two weeks in future years, which is also going to affect our time at home and time in between the tournaments. I feel like everything is just based on wanting to have more and more, but not really taking care of our wellbeing and health.
“Most of us, even the young ones, the older ones, we all know that this is not good that we’re going to have more mandatory tournaments, and so we want to really have an impact, because when it happens, it’s going to stay forever and it’s going to get worse. So hopefully we’re going to be able to push.”
Swiatek’s intervention came just when it seemed a tough week for the beleaguered WTA couldn’t get any worse. Aryna Sabalenka, the world No 1, has questioned the safety of a playing surface that was only completed the day before the finals began, limiting practice time, and has accused the organisation of “another level of disrespect”. Marketa Vondrousova, meanwhile, the Wimbledon champion, has claimed the governing body is “absolutely not interested in how we feel”.
Sabalenka, Vondrousova and Elena Rybakina, the world No 4, were among 20 signatories to a three-page letter submitted to the WTA last month that highlighted concerns about issues including pay and scheduling. There was also a demand for formal recognition of the Professional Tennis Players’ Association, the organisation co-founded by Novak Djokovic to “promote, protect and represent the interests of its players”, of which many of the complainants are members.
In a written response, Steve Simon, the WTA chief executive, assured the players this week that they had “been heard” and said the decision to stage the finals in Cancún was “based upon a number of complicated factors”.
Simon offered assurances that there would be further “discussion and consideration” at board level around the number of mandatory events, minimum income guarantees and scheduling. He also promised to address a number of priorities identified by the players, including greater consistency in the type of balls used during the different phases of the season and “improved marketing and social media efforts”.
“It is clear that you are not happy with the decision to be here in Cancún,” wrote Simon. “It is not a perfect event, we understand the conditions are a challenge, and the WTA will of course accept responsibility for that.”
Aside from the questionable playing surface and a swirling wind that has rendered conditions almost unplayable at times, the tournament has also been blighted by swathes of empty seats, the inevitable consequence of a lead-up period of barely seven weeks. While that was largely due to deliberations about whether to stage the event in Saudi Arabia, where the finals are likely to be staged next season, the sight of the world’s best female players competing in a sparsely populated arena has once again raised questions about the marketing of the women’s tour.
“It’s a pretty weird situation, where we have meetings with the WTA and we kind of explain to them what should be done,” said Swiatek. “For sure, there’s potential to work on that. Obviously, they decided late that we’re going to play here and, for sure, the marketing should be better.
“It’s a shame that we don’t have a full stadium and we can’t really feel like we’re on a tennis celebration for the whole week. But it is what it is, and hopefully for the future there’s not going to be any more situations like that, and they’re going to work to improve that.
“We’re doing our best in every tournament, and in grand slams we have full stands basically from even, sometimes, second rounds. Here, it’s different than sometimes in the WTA tournaments, so there’s room for improvement, for sure.”
For its part, the WTA is not blind to the problem. While next year’s schedule changes may be unpopular, they were conceived with the aim of regularly showcasing the best players at the best tournaments, maximising commercial growth and paving the way for increased prize money. The organisation has also formed a $150m (£118m) partnership with CVC Capital Partners, a global private equity firm, with improved commercial rights and prize money high on the agenda.
None of that will be of any immediate solace to WTA executives in Cancún, however, where play was barely underway before the organisation was forced to release a statement defending the quality of the rapidly erected Estadio Paradisus.
“We’re pleased to host the WTA Finals in Cancún for the first time and worked hard to construct a stadium,” read the statement. “The team has worked diligently on an expedited timeline amid weather challenges to ensure the stadium and court meet our strict performance standards.”
Whether those standards are consistent with those of the players the organisation represents is likely to remain the subject of fierce debate.