Sad picture shows almost empty stadium at first match of WTA Finals with US no. 1
WTATuesday, 01 November 2022 at 01:00
Updated at Wednesday, 12 February 2025 at 13:10
Jessica Pegula and Maria Sakkari were the first two singles players to step out on the court in Fort Worth during the 2022 WTA Finals, but there weren't too many fans watching them.
World No. 3 Pegula and World No. 5 Sakkari are used to competing in front of packed stadiums at Grand Slam tournaments, but that was not the case at the WTA Finals in Fort Worth, Texas.
Despite the prestige of the year-end competition and the highest-ranked US player playing in the first match, the attendance was absolutely shocking for a match of this caliber.
The 2022 WTA Finals are held at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, and not even 20% of the seats were filled when the first singles match between Pegula and Sakkari started.
Fort Worth was picked as a host for the 2022 WTA Finals relatively late, which might be a reason why many fans could arrange their plans to attend, but it also highlights the problem of not having a permanent venue for the year-end tournament.
Ahead of the event, the American player spoke about how happy she was to show her qualities in front of the home crowd, but those were not so much appreciated by the crowd in Texas.
"I think it's always something I've had in the back of my mind a little bit, but I think at the same time when I was younger, I would maybe try to prove myself too much."
"I think that would create more pressure. Over the years, I've gotten a lot more comfortable as far as my family or my background and stuff like that."
"I think maybe taking that pressure off helped me to earn my accomplishments and have people more recognize my name on the tennis court than not."
"So it's definitely a very rewarding, satisfying feeling. Especially when a lot of people I know, they know me as a tennis player and a great tennis player. I think that's always really nice to hear."
"It's just a testament to all the work I've put in and all the hours and the hard work that I've had to put in to earn that right. I always knew that maybe in a way it would almost be harder for me to earn that because that's not what my family is known for. I've kind of stopped trying to prove that so much. In the end, I think it came naturally, which is nice."
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