Between wind, salt and unpopulated stands, a Teachers’ Cup in the form of nonsense

The eight participants in the Masters Cup and the representatives in the doubles category realized as soon as they landed in Cancun last week that the theoretical end-of-season party was not going to be such, but rather the opposite. All of them were stunned when they saw the scaffolding and the half-finished track, and the surprise led to considerable anger when they saw that the days were passing and that they would only be able to exercise the day before the start of the tournament on the surface in the that they were going to play for the title. “They are not missing the respected one. “I feel very disappointed with the WTA,” protested the world number one, Aryna Sabalenka, whose speech has found continuity in that of other references who do not quite understand how things could have been done so badly. Cancun, a paradise; also (or so the protagonists convey it), the chronicle of a nonsense.

“The problem is not this city, perfect for going on vacation and enjoying the beach. But it’s too late to fix anything. It’s really impossible to get the court right,” laments Tunisian Ons Jabeur, an artist of her own who, in order to defeat Marketa Vondrousova – another skilled tennis player, this year’s champion at Wimbledon – had to do so by “playing ugly”, harsh penalties. The reason, the irregular bounce of the ball on a surface installed at the last minute and the strong gusts of wind that filter in from the ocean. “It is impossible to control them; Today they almost took my racket flying. I like to play well, but here you don’t feel the ball. I hope the WTA knows with greater margin where the Finals will be next time [el organismo anunció la sede con mes y medio de antelación] and that it gives us more time to prepare them,” he adds.

Jabeur expresses himself on a television set and in the background you can see the branches of the palm trees swirling. The player’s bangs invade her face again and again due to the gusts. “The conditions are being very complicated…” she says. It is the feeling shared by the rest of the competitors, sad at having to close the season in a setting inappropriate for an event of this level. Half-empty stands for most of the tournament and a barren landscape – half the capacity – during the match between Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek, two of the current figures. The last one demanded two days before at the foot of the track: “I hope the stadium is full in the next few days, there are many empty seats. Please come see us.” And she presented her claim after defeating the American.

Number one for 75 weeks, until Sabalenka took the lead from her in September, the Pole is one of the authoritative voices of the locker room. And, logically, it hurts Swiatek to see so much plastic and metal around her, so few people and so little atmosphere. This is not a party, it is not tennis, they say. The track, built at the last minute and on the seashore, only has room for 4,000 spectators and cannot hide various flaws. In addition to the boat, irregular and strange according to the participants, it does not prevent the invasion of sand and saltpeter, and even stores puddles on one side when it rains. The consequence is poor play and a lackluster tournament; That is, the complete opposite of what should be the meeting among the strongest of the year. A disastrous promotional message at a time when women’s tennis is eagerly seeking to capture the audience.

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“The quality is not the best. It is seen in the large number of mistakes we make. We are limited by the conditions, I don’t feel like I can prove everything I’m worth. You don’t know how the ball is going to react nor do you have control. It is not a problem that we do not know how to play, but that it is very difficult to compete like this,” explains Elena Rybakina, number four. “They [la WTA, rectora del circuito femenino] They decided late that we were going to play here. The stadium is not full and we don’t feel like this is the end of year celebration it should be. But that’s what there is. Hopefully in the future we will not have to experience another situation like this. We give everything in every tournament. Of course the room for improvement is great,” adds Swiatek.

She is one of the 21 signatories of the letter sent to the WTA at the beginning of October, in which the tennis players demanded that a series of requests be addressed to improve their conditions, from salary to the flexibility of the program throughout of the year. The number of tournaments grows and with it the wear and tear. Rest is reduced and stress increases when going from one place to another. “We want them to change next year’s calendar. There will be more mandatory tournaments [Mandatory], so that is going to have an impact on our health and well-being. Most WTA 1000 will be two weeks [en vez de una], and that will also affect the time we will be at home between tournaments. I am 22 years old and I have played one of the most intense seasons of my career; I feel that it will be difficult to maintain this pace for many years,” says Swiatek.

The one from Warsaw perceives that “everything is based on wanting to have more and more,” and that the health of the athlete is not taken into account. She and her teammates believe that the WTA can do more and better things to help them, without affecting the contracts between the organization and the tournaments. Therefore, Swiatek anticipates a mobilization that began to take shape with last month’s writing. “I have been on the circuit for four years, and this is the first time that top-level and lower-ranked players are united to do something that has a real impact, because we are not happy with some things,” she points out; “Hopefully changes will occur and we will reach a point where we are all happy. All players, top-level and lower-ranked, are united and want to make an impact. “We are going to press.”

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