WTA News & Gossip 2023

[MargaretMcAleer]

The main draw ceremony for the WTA will be Sunday May 7th at 7pm local time
Withdrawals
Petra Kvitova (No 10), Belinda Bencic ( No 11), Karolina Pliskova ( No 15)

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Glad to see Sloane Stephens finally winning a tournament (clay)
Sloane won L'Open 35 de Saint Malo defeating G.Minnen in the final 63 64

 

[tossip]

Glad to see Sloane Stephens finally winning a tournament (clay)
Sloane won L'Open 35 de Saint Malo defeating G.Minnen in the final 63 64

Sloane is good on clay and had she not choked that match with Halep she could have been RG winner.I hope she is serious with her tennis because she is a really gifted athlete.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Sloane is good on clay and had she not choked that match with Halep she could have been RG winner.I hope she is serious with her tennis because she is a really gifted athlete.

I hope soo toTossip, hopefully this win can give her the confidence in the rest of the clay season

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

WTA Top Ten Monday 8th May,

1. Swiatek
2. Sabalenka
3. Pegula
4. Garcia (+ 1)
5. Gauff ( +1)
6. Rubakina (+1)
7. Jabeur (-3)
8. Sakkari (+1)
9. Kasatkina (-1)
10. Kvitova

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Interesting comments from Ons Jabeur on the longer ( 2 week) events in Madrid/ Rome
"Definitely I can say 90% of the players, they don't agree with it. Lets see what's going to happen".

 

[PhiEaglesfan712]

Interesting comments from Ons Jabeur on the longer ( 2 week) events in Madrid/ Rome
"Definitely I can say 90% of the players, they don't agree with it. Lets see what's going to happen".

That mentality is why 90% of the players in the WTA don't do anything meaningful in the slams. These 2-week events are not going away anytime soon. If they don't like it now, just wait until they learn that Toronto and Cincy are going to become 2-week events in 2025.

It's going to be interesting to see how they incorporate those extra 2 weeks into the schedule. Some options:

1. No change to the US Open swing, US Open starts 2 weeks later
2. US Open swing starts 2 weeks earlier, no change to US Open dates
3. US Open swing starts one week earlier, US Open starts one week later
4. Cancel the Citi Open and Winston Salem, and keep the US Open swing and US Open dates the same

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

That mentality is why 90% of the players in the WTA don't do anything meaningful in the slams. These 2-week events are not going away anytime soon. If they don't like it now, just wait until they learn that Toronto and Cincy are going to become 2-week events in 2025.

It's going to be interesting to see how they incorporate those extra 2 weeks into the schedule. Some options:

1. No change to the US Open swing, US Open starts 2 weeks later
2. US Open swing starts 2 weeks earlier, no change to US Open dates
3. US Open swing starts one week earlier, US Open starts one week later
4. Cancel the Citi Open and Winston Salem, and keep the US Open swing and US Open dates the same

Quite frankly I dont think it is in any players interest women or men, to play these long drawn out events, especially before a GS, this is where players can pick up injuries, noone wants to go into a GS with a niggling injury, or if the injury is bad, having to withdraw
I think we might see players skipping some of those Masters events, just doing a tune up, playing one before a GS. I know on the mens side Sinner decided to skip Madrid, this year, just to focus on Rome, before RG
Another factor is you have to play soo many Masters 1000 and WTA1000 events, unless you have a good excuse like a injury or you can lose points
At present I cannot see the calendar tour being adjusted.

 

[Moxie]

Quite frankly I dont think it is in any players interest women or men, to play these long drawn out events, especially before a GS, this is where players can pick up injuries, noone wants to go into a GS with a niggling injury, or if the injury is bad, having to withdraw
I think we might see players skipping some of those Masters events, just doing a tune up, playing one before a GS. I know on the mens side Sinner decided to skip Madrid, this year, just to focus on Rome, before RG
Another factor is you have to play soo many Masters 1000 and WTA1000 events, unless you have a good excuse like a injury or you can lose points
At present I cannot see the calendar tour being adjusted.

This is probably for the general conversation thread, but I don't understand why the women, (since that was Jabeur's point,) or the men, either, would complain about the longer event. Genuinely curious. Surely you're less likely to pick up an injury with the extra day off. You're facing good competition, the money and the points are good. And a Master's event IS a tune-up to a Major. A lot of players use their off-days to pick up some doubles, which, aside from the extra dosh, is good for their net game. I'm not really clear what the complaint is.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

This is probably for the general conversation thread, but I don't understand why the women, (since that was Jabeur's point,) or the men, either, would complain about the longer event. Genuinely curious. Surely you're less likely to pick up an injury with the extra day off. You're facing good competition, the money and the points are good. And a Master's event IS a tune-up to a Major. A lot of players use their off-days to pick up some doubles, which, aside from the extra dosh, is good for their net game. I'm not really clear what the complaint is.

From what I am hearing the women prefer to play the WTA1000 in its former format, when I get more information I will post it., Jabeur didnt really go into further details., I dont think with the extra day off you are likely to pick up an injury, depending on the injury, it may take more than a couple of days to heal?.I am hearing from other players they prefer the former format., fans think the same, especially in Madrid they thought it was a long drawn out tournament., in saying that sometimes, players, fans etc have to get use to a new format being longer, I guess nothing stays 'stat' I take your points on board.

 

[tossip]

Why is the media comparing Serena the legend to Sabalenka?Serena has moved on and Saba has just won Madrid at 26years old.Serena's willpower is unmatched...

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Why is the media comparing Serena the legend to Sabalenka?Serena has moved on and Saba has just won Madrid at 26years old.Serena's willpower is unmatched...

I saw that question asking Saba was she the new Serena? or something like that because of the way she plays? hard and powerful
There is only Ever Only One Serena Williams Tossip she 'stands alone'

 

[the AntiPusher]

I saw that question asking Saba was she the new Serena? or something like that because of the way she plays? hard and powerful
There is only Ever Only One Serena Williams Tossip she 'stands alone'

Its like comparing Derek Jeter to Babe Ruth...

 

[kskate2]

I saw that question asking Saba was she the new Serena? or something like that because of the way she plays? hard and powerful
There is only Ever Only One Serena Williams Tossip she 'stands alone'

I think we can see what's happening here. They are not ready to let Serena go. So any opportunity they can find to bring her name up, they will. The Tennis channel still shows Serena in it's promo commercials for upcoming tournaments. The booth mentions her alot in comparison to some record she holds at the current tournament they're covering, etc.

 

[the AntiPusher]

I think we can see what's happening here. They are not ready to let Serena go. So any opportunity they can find to bring her name up, they will. The Tennis channel still shows Serena in it's promo commercials for upcoming tournaments. The booth mentions her alot in comparison to some record she holds at the current tournament they're covering, etc.

Yep

 

[tossip]

They should compare Saba to say Osaka,and they both hit hard .I feel Saba is not yet a bonafide dominant player of this era.She might get there with time..let's wait for Osaka to come back and have them playing.Imagine Iga,Osaka,Saba and Rybakina all playing well at the same time.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

They should compare Saba to say Osaka,and they both hit hard .I feel Saba is not yet a bonafide dominant player of this era.She might get there with time..let's wait for Osaka to come back and have them playing.Imagine Iga,Osaka,Saba and Rybakina all playing well at the same time.

Well Osaka is due to give birth in a few months, apparently she has been putting baby trainers on her instragram page, that look like they are meant for a baby boy, she knows the sex of the child, though he partner does not want to know until the birth. Osaka said she will come back to the tour at the AO in 2024, lets see how she plays.
I think it is too premature to compare Saba to another player, yes she hits hard like Osaka, though Rybakina also hits hard
Saba still is prone to DFs and over pressing with her play, still full credit to her she really has improved in area's of her game, especially her mental approach to the game

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

According to Serbian press on Saturday former player Ana Ivanovic and her husband Bastian Schweinsteiger ( former prefessional athlete) welcomed their third child, a baby boy, the couple has yet to announce his name.

 

[PhiEaglesfan712]

I think we can see what's happening here. They are not ready to let Serena go. So any opportunity they can find to bring her name up, they will. The Tennis channel still shows Serena in it's promo commercials for upcoming tournaments. The booth mentions her alot in comparison to some record she holds at the current tournament they're covering, etc.

Well, that's what happens when hardly anyone, besides Coco Gauff, is marketable in the WTA right now. Outside of Coco in the New Balance commercials, can you think of the last time an active WTA player was in a commercial?

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Controversial Treatment of Women at Madrid Open: Ball Girl Drama, Birthday Cake-Gate and Silent Trophy Ceremony

The 2023 Madrid Open recently came under fire for a series of decisions that left tennis fans outraged. From replacing ball kids with model ball girls in revealing outfits for male matches, to giving a small birthday cake to WTA player Aryna Sabalenka compared to her male colleague Carlos Alcaraz the tournament's action s sparked a lot of debate.
To me personally, the most controversial treatment was the women's Doubles champions and the runner-ups who were not given the opportunity to speak after their final? Victoria Azarenka, Beatriz Haddad Maia, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula were all left wondering why they weren't allowed to address the crowd.
The tournaments actions have been widely critized for their lack of respect for women. The decision made by the organizers sparked outrage among tennis fans and are a stark reminder that gender equality, still has a long way to go in sports.