Where, oh where, are the WTA finals?

It was early September and Iga Swaatek had no idea where her season would end.

For the third year in a row, the WTA Finals were in limbo due to the start of the United States Open.

“It’s certainly quite unfortunate and annoying that we don’t have a decision yet,” Swiatek said at the end of August, shortly before the WTA. announced that Cancun, Mexico, would host this year’s championship for the world’s eight best singles players and eight best doubles teams. “We as players are not involved in all discussions.”

Professional tennis players are highly structured athletes who plan their schedules months, sometimes years in advance. Because the WTA Tour competes in nearly 30 countries on six continents and has virtually no offseason, the women spend much of their lives on the road, crossing time zones and navigating their complicated journeys. Knowing when and where they will compete is essential for their well-being and injury prevention.

In 2019, the WTA began what it thought would be a ten-year deal for the finals to be held in Shenzhen, China. When Covid hit, the country shut down. When WTA CEO Steve Simon said the tour would not return to China until the safety and whereabouts of former player Peng Shuai could be determined, who disappeared after accusing a senior government official of sexual abuse, the situation precarious. Peng eventually resurfaced and retracted her claims of abuse.

Now the deal is officially dead. The big question is: will it move to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and if so, when?

The WTA board supported a measure for this year, but it was rejected before the announcement was made. Simon then traveled to Riyadh earlier this month during the Chinese tour to work out the details. But then war broke out in the Middle East, delaying an announcement.

As the ATP Tour plays the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia at the end of November, there was disagreement among the women. Many current players, including Jessica Pegula, Aryna Sabalenka and Ons Jabeur, are ready to leave.

“Unfortunately, in many places, women don’t pay a lot of money and, like in many women’s sports, we don’t have the luxury of saying no to some things,” said Pegula, a member of the WTA Players’ Council. , said during the US Open.

“I think if the money was right and the scheme was something we could get behind, where we could go and create change, I would be fine with playing there,” she added.

Maria Sakkari said she thought players should be more open-minded. “If the WTA can help women move forward there, then that’s a win for both of us,” she said on the phone two weeks ago.

Some former players disagree.

“Why would the leading sport for women go to a country with such a poor record on women’s rights?” Pam Shriver, a 10-time WTA Finals doubles winner with Martina Navratilova, said by phone. “They are jeopardizing a payout with core values.”

Navratilova wants to see progress before playing.

“I’m all for starting a dialogue,” Navratilova, also an eight-time WTA Finals singles champion, said by phone. “But I need to see a commitment to women. I want to know their goals and their educational plans. You can’t just go in good faith. If they are only after money, that is a big mistake. The WTA will lose its credibility by looking the other way and ignoring Saudi human rights abuses.”

Sabalenka and Jabeur will join Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz in an exhibition in Saudi Arabia, the Riyadh Season Tennis Cup, in December. They will play at Kingdom Arena, which has a seating capacity of approximately 40,000.

For comparison, the WTA Finals are played in a temporary stadium with 4,300 seats in Quintana Roo. The location, on the grounds of the Paradisus Cancun hotel, will also have two private practice courts for the players. Operating costs are estimated at $6 million, including stadium construction. The costs, including $9 million in prize money, will be split between the WTA, the promoters and the state of Quintana Roo, where Cancun is located.

“Hosting the WTA Finals in Cancun was one where we were able to tick off a lot of boxes,” said Fabrice Chouquet, director of the tournament. “The culture, the fans, who give players from all over the world the opportunity to be in Mexico, where we have beautiful weather and good conditions to organize the event and lively hospitality, because that is also the signature of Mexico.”

Two years ago the final was held in nearby Guadalajara and won by Garbine Muguruza. Last year, after much delay in announcing the location, the event was moved to the 14,000-seat Dickies arena in Fort Worth, which saw low attendance until the final weekend. Caroline García won the title.

For more than twenty years, from 1979 to 2000, the year-end championships were played at Madison Square Garden in New York and routinely attracted more than 15,000 fans.

This year the total prize money for singles and doubles is $9 million. If the champion remains undefeated in round-robin play, she will win $3 million.

This year’s singles competitors include Australian Open champion Sabalenka, French Open winner Swiatek, US Open champion Coco Gauff, Wimbledon winner Marketa Vondrousova, Elena Rybakina, Pegula, Jabeur and Sakkari. Karolina Muchova was the eighth qualifier but was forced to withdraw last week due to a wrist injury, creating space for Sakkari.

Sabalenka, Swiatek and Sakkari are playing for the third year in a row, while Pegula, Gauff and Jabeur are second-year competitors. Rybakina and Vondrousova will make their Finals debut this year.

Another problem facing the WTA Finals this year is its proximity Billie Jean King cup, the women’s international team competition, which starts in Seville, Spain, just two days after the end of the finals in Cancun. Pegula, Gauff and Swiatek have declined to play in the King Cup. It is the second year that the two signature events have clashed.

“We’ve had our date for a long time,” King said in a video conference this month. “I think we all need to come up with a better calendar so that the players and everyone knows what’s going to happen, because you can’t make these decisions during the finals in September. It’s only fair.”

The issue requires masterful juggling, not to mention mental gymnastics Barbara Krejcikova of the Czech Republic. After reaching the final in Zhengzhou, China, two weeks ago, Krejcikova flew 1,000 miles to Zhuhai, China, where she was the top seed last week in the WTA Elite Trophy, an end-of-year competition for twelve top singles and six doubles teams that just missed the cut for the WTA Finals.

But Krejcikova and her partner, Katerina Siniakova, also qualified for the doubles at the WTA Finals, which starts on Sunday. That requires a 9,000-mile trip from Zhuhai to Cancun.

Once the WTA Finals end, Krejcikova will fly another nearly 5,000 miles from Cancun to Seville for the Billie Jean King Cup. But at least she will have company, because her Czech teammates Siniakova and Vondrousova will also play in Cancún and Seville.

Regardless of scheduling issues, travel issues and the politics involved in choosing tournament locations, players who qualify for the WTA Finals enjoy the opportunity to compete.

“I always felt like it was a celebration, a reward for a great season,” said Sakkari, who reached the semi-finals last year with victories over Sabalenka, Pegula and Jabeur. “It’s huge. There are only seven other players there and you’re playing against the best of the best. That’s very unique.”