Former member of the WTA Players' Council, Magda Linette, has lifted the lid on the surprise choice of handing hosting rights for this year's WTA Finals to Cancun.
Initially, tennis fans were meant to believe reports of a two-horse race in the bidding process involving Saudi Arabia and the Czech Republic. But a late change happened with the WTA announcing the Mexican coastal city Cacun as the new host.
For the third year running, the WTA had shot itself on the foot, announcing the host city for the premier women's tennis tournament outside the four Grand Slams just a few weeks before its start. To compound the poor decision-making, the stadium was not fully constructed when the players flew into the city at the start of last week.
The eight competitors at the WTA Finals went into silent mode. They were obliged to practice on hotel courts for starters and only got a day of practice to test the newly minted main court. But since the start of the tournament, the players have clearly found their voice, with Aryna Sabalenka slamming the WTA for being unprofessional.
It is clear that the players are completely dissatisfied with this whole experience. The standards for holding such a massive and prestigious event have been embarrassingly low.
But in a fresh development, Poland's Magda Linette who served within the Players' Council until the recent elections, has stated that the players were concerned about the tournament going to Ostrava.
Contrary to reports that the Czech Republic would permit players from all nationalities to enter the country, doubts crept in that their stance on shutting its borders for Russian and Belarusian players would stand and it worried the Council.
Sabalenka being a Belarusian and the World No. 1 would eventually miss out if that was the case. It also emerged that players were aware of Cancun being a potential tournament host and elected to take this choice, according to Linette, who also stated that the large prize money pool in Cancun was also a factor.
"The disadvantage in Ostrava was that we did not have a hundred percent guarantee all the girls would be able to play. If even one was not allowed in the country, the tournament would not take place, which would result in a huge penalty. About the size of this entire investment."
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