The institutional management of Colombian women’s tennis over the past eight years has been described as a disaster by María Fernanda Herazo. She pointed directly to administrative failings and structural deficits for the sport’s recent decline in international competition.
María Fernanda Herazo Blasts Eight-Year Federation Record
Speaking in an interview, the 2022 South American champion criticized the Colombian Tennis Federation (FCT). Her remarks followed a meager squad representation at the Santa Fe 2026 South American Games that resulted in the loss of both singles and doubles titles previously secured at Asunción 2022. Rather than pointing fingers at the athletes, Herazo focused her criticism on executive leadership, highlighting long-term planning failures under current executive director David Samudio—who assumed the presidency in 2017—and current president Mauricio Lederman.
A Sharp Divide Between Talent and Executive Leadership
“For me, the institutional balance of Colombian women’s tennis is a disaster in recent years,” Herazo stated.
“I speak of management, structure, and processes, not of the players, whose talent and sacrifice I know. Results do not appear by spontaneous generation: neither do you win a gold nor do you lose competitive depth overnight.”
According to official tournament records, Colombia arrived at the Santa Fe Games presenting just a single female competitor in the singles draw—María Paulina Pérez, whose WTA ranking stands at 1151—and entered zero pairs for the women’s doubles tournament. Pérez was eliminated prior to the quarterfinals.
Contrasting Past Triumphs With Current Depleted Squads
This sparse delegation contrasted sharply with previous years. At the 2022 South American Games in Asunción, Herazo captured the singles gold, while Herazo and María Paulina Pérez claimed the doubles crown. Subsequent victories followed at the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador, where Herazo won singles gold, Lizarazo and Pérez took doubles gold, and the nation secured the women’s Nations Cup.
However, Herazo argued that those international medals were achieved independently of federation support. She credited personal and family efforts, private coaching teams, and backing from external entities such as Petromil, the Mayor’s Office of Barranquilla, and the Governorate of Atlántico for her career milestones.
“My international results were not born from a training process built by the current structure of the Federation,” Herazo said. “They were born from personal and family work, from private coaches and teams, from competing outside the country and building my career tournament by tournament.”
Widespread Medal Shortfalls Across Multi-Sport Events
The decline in squad depth became apparent across consecutive multi-sport events. Colombia failed to revalidate its Bolivarian Games titles from Valledupar 2022 at the Ayacucho-Lima 2025 games, and similarly failed to retain its Santo Domingo 2026 titles after sweeping gold in San Salvador 2023.
While the delegation did secure a gold medal in mixed doubles through María Paulina Pérez and Cristian Rodríguez at Santa Fe 2026—contributing to a total medal count of one gold, three silvers, and one bronze—the women’s division failed to defend its core titles.
Herazo characterized the entire current Olympic cycle as an institutional failure for women’s tennis, noting that similar difficulties have affected the country’s performance in the Billie Jean King Cup over the last two years. Despite the systemic criticism, she offered unwavering support for her fellow competitors: “Do you think any player called up did badly in the Olympic cycle? Absolutely not.”
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