2023 WTA Finals - General Discussion

Who will win the title at the 2023 WTA Finals?

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    25
  • Poll closed .
Ons, Sakkari and Marketa are adhering to form. The only intriguing facets left of this tournament are:

Can 1-8 keep enough gained confidence to go 2-8 rather than 1-9?
Can Iga keep the PO’ed edge of losing #1 and destroy everyone?
Can Saby keep focus?
Can Ryba stay healthy and gain an edge?

I don’t see Jessie do anything tho…
 
Lots of bagels already. Spystud is right - this tournament is embarrassing. I would like some redemption for the Americans this year. I am impressed with how Jessie stayed disciplined against Rybakina. She was taking the second serves 2 feet inside the baseline. i watched some highlights and I admit I do not understand Marketa's game.
 
Aussie Darcy said:
So of the 4 matches so far between the top 8 ladies in the world:
We've had 3 bagels.
2 breadsticks.
Not one match has gone 3 sets.

Yeesh.
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There is a connection between these results and the poor organization of this year's event. The female tennis players were denied to practice on the court and get used to the conditions (they trained only the day before the start of the tournament).
 
Awful to read the players being so critical, but you have to be resilient at that level also. The conditions are the same for all players so losing 6-0 because you're feeling so downtrodden by the setup also kind of looks like you have checked out and not fought like your opponent. Hopefully the WTA can find a stable 5 year or so contract somewhere that can host the tournament to the standard that is deserved.
 
Enceladus said:
There is a connection between these results and the poor organization of this year's event. The female tennis players were denied to practice on the court and get used to the conditions (they trained only the day before the start of the tournament).
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So some players have just read the courts better or they've not had these set backs in the forefront of their mind while playing the matches?
 
Enceladus said:
There is a connection between these results and the poor organization of this year's event. The female tennis players were denied to practice on the court and get used to the conditions (they trained only the day before the start of the tournament).
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Is there though? I think Sabalenka herself said she didn’t get to practice on the court before the tournament. But she managed to destroy Sakkari 6-0 6-1. Everyone was denied practice and is impacted by the shocking conditions. Yet Sabalenka and Gauff have handled it very well while Sakkari and Jabeur have not.
 
spystud said:
Because it’s a sham. Most of the 8 just want their $.
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I'm a big fan and supporter of women's tennis, but this is just such a bad look for the sport, and I honestly think the players should take as much, if not more, of the blame.

As others have said, they are being paid A LOT of money for just a few matches, and so you would think they would show some professionalism and put on a show. But instead they act like divas and don't even try? They talk about how hard they worked to qualify for the event, and then they don't even put up a fight? I've only really seen the Gauff-Jabeur match so far, and Ons was truly pathetic.

I've been behind the scenes of some fairly large sporting events before, and you can pretty much tell from the outside that the WTA really struggled to put this thing together, but they have managed it and now the show must go on. If you wan't to complain about the court, you need to play at 110% (yes, we know it doesn't exist), and leave it all out on the court. THEN you can complain. Lost a tiebreaker after some bad bounces, and then you can complain. But 6-0, 6-1 has nothing to do with the court or the conditions. It's all on you.

Honestly, do these women not realize that they are the highest paid female athletes in the world, and by a large margin? Do they not realize what previous generations of women had to deal with in order to get them here? Do they not realize that, despite being in a great position compared to other female athletes, they still have to accept the reality that men's sports are still a much larger draw?
 
robyrolfo said:
As others have said, they are being paid A LOT of money for just a few matches, and so you would think they would show some professionalism and put on a show. But instead they act like divas and don't even try? They talk about how hard they worked to qualify for the event, and then they don't even put up a fight? I've only really seen the Gauff-Jabeur match so far, and Ons was truly pathetic.

I've been behind the scenes of some fairly large sporting events before, and you can pretty much tell from the outside that the WTA really struggled to put this thing together, but they have managed it and now the show must go on. If you wan't to complain about the court, you need to play at 110% (yes, we know it doesn't exist), and leave it all out on the court. THEN you can complain. Lost a tiebreaker after some bad bounces, and then you can complain. But 6-0, 6-1 has nothing to do with the court or the conditions. It's all on you.
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To be fair, at least based on the posts here, it's not Jabeur and Sakkari, the 6-0, 6-1 losers, making the complaints. It's first and foremost Sabalenka, who won 6-0, 6-1, and Vondrousova, who did lose a tiebreaker.
 
robyrolfo said:
I honestly think the players should take as much, if not more, of the blame.
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These are pro athletes and they're being asked to play in a hastily cobbled together stadium with basically zero on-court practice, mainly (exclusively?) because the WTA organisation didnt manage to decide on a venue in time. If so, they seem well in their right to air their grievances.

I do agree that bagels and breadsticks are a bad look, but those happen all year, not sure if these are evidence of diva behavior.
 
Now is a good time to mention that the WTA Finals has only been won by a reigning slam champ ONCE in the last 7 editions. Thanks Ash Barty ;)

2022: Garcia - no slam
2021: Muguruza - held no slam
2019: Barty - Held the French Open
2018: Svitolina - no slam
2017: Wozniacki - no slam
2016: Cibulkova - no slam
2015: Radwanska - no slam
 
No 1 year end ranking getting very tight now. Can't remember it ever being on the line halfway through the WTA finals before.

Great performance from Pegula. Sabalenka's first serve looked completely neutered tonight.

That court plays a lot different from Guadalajara. Not a chance Caroline Dolehide would win a bean in this place.
 
RafanadalGoat said:
Why is there so many blowout matches in WTA finals ? are these ladies trying even ? There is ton of money and points on the line but sometimes i don't think they are really trying like they would in grand slam events.
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I dont think Jabeur has been in the best shape physically recently - she pulled out of a China tournament with a knee injury and I think only played doubles in her home tournament in Tunisia.

Sakkari just got in last minute because of Bouzkova's injury - maybe wasnt prepared.

The other bagel was Swiatek 2nd set over Vondrusova - I didnt see any of that match but she does that to a lot of players. At least the 1st set was 7-6.
 
Nate7-5 said:
I dont think Jabeur has been in the best shape physically recently - she pulled out of a China tournament with a knee injury and I think only played doubles in her home tournament in Tunisia.

Sakkari just got in last minute because of Bouzkova's injury - maybe wasnt prepared.

The other bagel was Swiatek 2nd set over Vondrusova - I didnt see any of that match but she does that to a lot of players. At least the 1st set was 7-6.
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If Jabeur is injured, she should have pulled out. This looks really bad for WTA. There is already lots of debate as to if WTA deserves same prize money due to less viewers and ticket sales. and this type of performances by the very best players of WTA doesn't help them at all.
 
Aussie Darcy said:
Oh this is embarrassing by Sakkari.

Thrashed 6-0 6-1 first match.
Now down 6-0 to Rybakina...
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I think Sakkari's confidence is all time low. Even though she won a tournament recently, she didn't really beat anybody in the top tier. I think she doesn't think she belongs in this tournament really. She's getting pushed around like she doesn't think she can win at all.
 
Tennis channel said that they have gone back to the lighter ball, regular duty felt for WTA finals because all the complaints that heavy duty balls were causing arm injuries. really interesting
 
This was a really strange match. Rybakina destroyed Sakkari 6-0 in the first set, then nothing separates them for 2 sets until the third set tiebreak where Rybakina cruises again to 6-0 then 7-2 for the win.
 
Rybakina says the court at WTA Finals is ‘not good’ for the top 8 women in the world:

“Overall, it’s not easy here. Everyone is struggling. Everyone is trying to do their best. As I said, I’m not really happy with the conditions & the set up of the tournament.. About the court, I don’t really want to talk. But of course, it’s not good. For sure not for the final 8. Because everything was late & there was no time to fix anything. You can see by the rallies & the shanks we both hit. I think the quality of the match wasn’t the greatest. But as I said, I tried to do my best.”

(via Cancun Press)
 
So that result means Pegula will be the top qualifier from Group A into the SF, regardless of her result against Sakkari in the next match.

It also means that Sakkari is knocked out at the RR stage and can't qualify for the SF.

The winner of Sabalenka v Rybakina will be the other qualifier from Group A.
 
Sabalenka had the same complaints about the court, it's too slippery and ball bounce out of control, I guess the court doesn't favor power plays like her or Rybakina
 
“Honestly, it’s another level of disrespect from the WTA for the players, because sometimes they don’t even feel safe to move on this court. That’s not the level I expect from the WTA Finals,”

Sabalenka said Sunday night after beating Maria Sakkari 6-0, 6-1 in one of the opening matches in round-robin play.
 
Aussie Darcy said:
Is there though? I think Sabalenka herself said she didn’t get to practice on the court before the tournament. But she managed to destroy Sakkari 6-0 6-1. Everyone was denied practice and is impacted by the shocking conditions. Yet Sabalenka and Gauff have handled it very well while Sakkari and Jabeur have not.
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Yes, the conditions are the same for everyone, but I meant to say that the female tennis players with better performance (Sabalenka & Gauff) adapted better to bad conditions. That's how I explain the excess of bagels and breadsticks.
 
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