It is clear that the choice of Fort Worth as headquarters of the Masters Cup It has not been the greatest success of the WTA. The tournament has had a much lower prize money than in previous editions and also during many of the sessions there were hardly any spectators in the stands, which has caused the biggest WTA event to remain somewhat watered down.
Logically, this situation has had many reactions, which demand from the highest organization of women’s tennis, that there be stability as far as this event is concerned, because the truth is that since the WTA left China due to the coronavirus and the Peng case Shuai the tournament has not found a venue that guarantees similar income.
The first to recognize that this situation is unsustainable for the business is Steve Simon, President and CEO of the WTA: “We are not going to keep making these decisions for a year. It is not sustainable. If we can’t go back to China or we’re not ready to go back, then I think we’ll create another headquarters for several years, because we need it for the business.” It must be remembered that during the celebration of the WTA Finals in Shenzhen, the tournament had a prize money of 14 million dollars, much higher than the five million that have been distributed in this edition.
SWIATEK CALLS FOR A CHANGE
To these words of Steve Simon has joined Every Swiatek, who never bites his tongue and does not hesitate to give his opinion whenever he is asked. The number one considers that it is important to organize this tournament with more time in order to offer a greater spectacle and have greater stability.
“I’ve never experienced the WTA Finals at their best, you know, in terms of organization and not being in a hurry with everything. So I would love for the WTA to lock in a spot for next year and do it just as big again as before, or maybe do it like the ATP has done.
In the opinion of the number one, the WTA should try to do the event in a similar way to the ATP, since she considers that it could have a success similar to that of the Masters Cup. “I understand why it happened and from a commercial point of view it is probably difficult to do this type of event. But I think if the ATP can do it, we can do it too. There is always talk of prize money during these events and it is quite sad that the WTA has been hit so hard by the pandemic and not having a place to play before and organizing everything properly. But on the other hand, you have a perfect example in the ATP, that they were able to keep everything the same and even increase the prize money, so hopefully next time, we’ll be more prepared. I know that the coronavirus has made everything more difficult, but the truth is that most of the tournaments were able to keep the prizes and even give more, so I hope that next year this will change, ”said the Pole in an interview with The Times .
What already seems clear is that the WTA Finals will change venues again in the next edition. Now, it remains to be seen what decision the highest body in women’s tennis makes, since we must remember that before the pandemic it had China as its maximum economic ally, something that has clearly taken its toll, so we will have to be attentive to if in the coming months the WTA approaches positions with the Asian giant, something that Steve Simon has not ruled out. “Hopefully that’s where we’re going to be (in 2023), but obviously we have some issues to work out.”
