Iga Swiatek says she and different girls’s tennis players are extra united than in the previous as they seek modifications on the WTA Tour, together with improvements to prioritize the athletes’ well-being.
“We are not happy with some things,” Swiatek, a four-time Grand Slam champion who was ranked No. 1 till September, stated Wednesday after enhancing to 2-0 at the WTA Finals by beating U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff 6-0, 7-5 in round-robin motion.
Some players just lately outlined numerous considerations in a letter to WTA CEO Steve Simon and through two conferences with tour management. Among the matters had been a assured revenue and protection for maternity depart and harm absences, together with an objection to a deliberate change in guidelines governing necessary match appearances.
“I really feel like every thing is simply primarily based on desirous to have increasingly more, however probably not caring for our well-being and well being,” said Swiatek, a 22-year-old from Poland. “There are some things that the WTA could change for us without any impact on the tournaments and the things that they already agreed with the tournaments.”
In a letter Simon wrote back to the players to address some of their concerns — and obtained by The Associated Press — he said working groups with representatives from the WTA Board, tournament council and players’ council “are in the strategy of reviewing scheduling and match requirements” and suggestions are anticipated to be made this month.
Among the matters, Simon wrote, is late-night matches — a rising supply of frustration for players.
He stated different areas being checked out embody inconsistency in tennis balls over the course of a season; anti-doping and integrity; advertising and social media efforts.
Simon wrote that “a great deal is being done and … there is a great deal of alignment in the areas you have raised and what is being worked on,” and promised to supply an replace the week of Nov. 13.
“I really feel like we — me and the other players, like, Ons (Jabeur), Coco … and also some players that didn’t qualify for the finals — we’re really, really united, and we think the same way,” Swiatek stated. “So most of us, even the young ones, the older ones, we all know that this is kind of not good that we’re going to have more mandatory tournaments. And so we want to really, really have an impact.”
She was requested about the lack of spectators at her victory over Gauff — and Swiatek made clear that she seen, blaming the late determination to carry the tour’s season-ending championship in Cancun ( the website wasn’t introduced till September ) and including that “the marketing should be better.”
The non permanent exhausting courtroom, arrange on a golf course, has been criticized by Swiatek and different players, each for its high quality and for under being obtainable for pre-tournament apply proper earlier than competitors started.
After her victory Sunday, No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka referred to as the situations “another level of disrespect.”
That’s been a standard sentiment throughout the WTA’s marquee occasion, the place the sport’s main players have been outspoken.
“I feel like we can use our voice now,” Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova stated Wednesday, “just to show people what’s happening here.”
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
