Mailbag: Player Frustrations Hang Over the WTA Finals

Aryna Sabalenka and others have been vocal about the conditions and resources at the Cancun tournament.

Hello, everyone ...

• Keep Pete Sampras and his family in your thoughts.
• John McEnroe does Smartless.
• Congrats, tennis lover Jeff Gewirtz.
• Here’s the great Kingfish, the Carlos Alcaraz of the blues.

Onward…

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Let’s start this week by talking about Cancun. As of Tuesday, the match results have been overtaken by player complaints. This column by Matt Futterman—aside: good for The Athletic for giving tennis the respect it deserves—lays out the context. I have a copy of the letter referenced, and the first signatory, as it were, is Aryna Sabalenka. Others signing: Ons Jabeur, Karolína Muchová, Elena Rybakina, Markéta Vondroušová, Maria Sakkari, Belinda Bencic, Daria Kasatkina, Barbora Krejčíková, Liudmila Samsonova, Veronika Kudermetova, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Paula Badosa and more. (Interestingly and strikingly, those not signing included Iga Świątek, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula.) The players complained last month about various issues, from improved communication between players and management to a request for paid leave. They did not receive a response they deemed sufficient. So wounds were already open. Then the players arrived in Cancun and were displeased by the conditions.

A few of you asked what I thought…and I am torn. Players have platforms and voices and agency and should use each of the above. Too often in this sport, the players get the short end of the (titanium) stick. Inasmuch as the court presents a physical risk to players, that cannot go unremarked upon. I believe the tour model has outlived its usefulness and the players need representation separate from management. And that the WTA has a lot to answer for, not having finalized a site for this event—its flagship event; the greatest source of tour revenue—until barely six weeks prior.

On the other side of the net…this is such a bad look. Quotes and posts complaining about conditions obscure the match results. They take attention away from the players. They reflect badly on promoters and a community that scrambled to put this together, driven more by passion for women’s tennis than by profit motive. At a time when the tours are discussing a merger, er, an “aggregation,” but the devil is in the details—read: the ATP doesn’t want a 50-50 split—complaints like this from prominent players only weaken the WTA’s bargaining leverage. And next year the finals are likely to be held in Saudi Arabia, which, even if the courts are perfectly surfaced and stringers are in abundance, presents a different set of challenges. Are players not boxing themselves into a corner complaining now?

For what it’s worth…here’s a statement Steve Simon gave me addressing the unhappy players: “The WTA was founded by players aiming to unite all of women’s professional tennis into one tour, and players have always been equal decision-makers to ensure a strong direction for women’s tennis. The strength of the voices of our players—including through WTA player representatives on the Board and the WTA Players’ Council, who the athletes on the Tour elect—have helped the WTA deliver an increase of $400 million in compensation to players over the next 10 years maintaining the WTA’s position as the leading women’s sports organization globally. We’re proud of these efforts and look forward to continuing to have these very important conversations with players and tournaments to keep building a strong future for women’s tennis.”

Aryna Sabalenka lost to Jessica Pegula in straight sets on Tuesday and will next face Elena Rybakina :: Susan Mullane/USA TODAY Sports

As much as the talk is about Alcaraz and rightly so it’s possible that [Jannik] Sinner will end up having the better career.

James B. Portland

• The last 48 hours have certainly seen one stock rise and the other plummet. But I’m not there yet. We all love Sinner, but he has yet to reach a major final. The other guy has won two. But not an unreasonable take. Who will have the better career? Some of this is about tennis and X’s and O’s. Sadly, a lot of this is likely about durability. Health has become the great externality in tennis. Both Sinner and Alcaraz are extraordinary players. (Relatedly or unrelatedly, both are amiable, pleasant guys.) They are the two best players 22 and under. They have a strong rivalry brewing (4–3 Sinner at this writing). They also have already missed some time with injuries. This has to be baked into any long-term projections.

Question for the Mailbag: Appreciated your answer regarding stalwart fans, long seasons, and facts supporting how the game/players all in all benefit regardless of anecdotes and complaints about pro tennis and its DNE off season. To your point, I caught a little of the Etcheverry vs Seb Korda match in the Basel indoors where the Argentine appeared to enjoy the fast conditions that befuddled the rising American with textbook groundies. Seems like this is as good an example as any that the game’s in good shape, even for fans: change the season and we’ll have a new King of the Court on any given day. For what it’s worth it’s also a nice throwback to how tennis looked a while back - short rallies punctuated by fast strike tennis. And who is this Etcheverry kid?! Another benefit of the long season, catching up on everything I’ve missed in the heart of earlier seasons!

Best,
Andrew Miller, Silver Spring, Maryland

• Thanks. Yes, it may take some time. And we will emerge with an appreciation for the absurd and statistically fluky Federer/Djokovic/Nadal/Serena era. (“How good can he be, Dad? He hasn’t even won double-digit majors!”) But we’re gonna be okay here, folks.

As for Tomás Martín Etcheverry, as a Tennis Channel colleague once put it “he is not what you expect.” Presumably, that means he is not a defensive, claycourt grinder. Rather he is more Juan Martín del Potro than Diego Schwartzman, a big (6’ 5”), big-slugging, punisher who prefers to dictate than defend. He has had a bit of an uneven year but has scored some nice wins (both Sebastian Korda and Andy Murray in Basel last week; a Roland Garros quarter.) He’s 24, will likely be seeded in Australia and is worth putting on your “players to watch” list.

As somebody who lives in Charlotte NC, I would have loved the Western & Southern Open to have moved to Charlotte NC. The plan was to build a brand new tennis center if the tournament would have been relocated. The cynic in me thinks Charlotte was being “played” as a way to get a better deal and or upgrades in Cincy. Your thoughts? BTW - There is a summer tournament in Winston Salem the week before the US Open and it is only 80 miles from Charlotte. Due to that, I think the chance of Charlotte getting a smaller tennis event is slim.

Bob Diepold, Charlotte NC

• You’re right that the owner’s well-worn playbook says you find a stalking horse (Las Vegas, Louisville, for years L.A. in the NFL)...you use terms like “public-private partnership” and “economic impact.”

… and then tell your local market that you are seriously considering leaving town unless public funds are going to be devoted to helping you build a new arena. Most communities now see through this ruse and resist socializing expenses while privatizing gains. I do think the facts in this case are not quite so simple. Cincinnati needed to upgrade and if this was the push, so be it.

One of you suggested the “Canada model.” That is, just as we hold the women in Toronto and the men in Montreal and swap each year, why not have the WTA in Cincy and the men in Charlotte? I like the creative thinking but a) that means the expense of two venues, staff, etc. b) that is at odds with the “aggregation” of both tours, holding mixed events simultaneously. Nevertheless, you’d like to see Charlotte rewarded for its commitment and enthusiasm. Maybe they want to bid on the WTA year-ender?

I’m sure that @epaminondas221 is a nice person but the impatient and uncivil impulse in me wants to gnash back, "Kid, go back to your sandbox and let the adults talk." There are so few tennis authors who even venture into macro issues, let alone bring finesse to these topics. Please keep doing it: it's what makes your articles so special and enlightening.

Kevin

• It’s a balance, right? And I am open to the suggestion I have not hit it right. Tennis is a diversion, a safe, fun and pleasant escape. Sometimes we want to discuss Gauff and Alcaraz and tune out war in the Middle East or the climate crisis. It also is folly to think the sport exists in a vacuum, immune from politics and economics and climate change, etc.

Shots, Miscellany

• Behold Jim Thomas and his unknown backhand!

• The United States Tennis Association announced last week that Ginny Ehrlich, an accomplished and successful leader of charitable organizations in the sports, youth and education space, has been named Chief Executive Officer of the USTA Foundation. Ehrlich will report to the USTA’s Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel Andrea Hirsch.

• The ATX Open has a third-player commitment for 2024, with Danielle Collins set to join previously announced Victoria Azarenka and Sloane Stephens. The trio will be part of the 32-player singles field at the Hologic WTA Tour tournament Feb. 24-March 3 at Austin’s Westwood Country Club.