Top Italian journalist Guido Monaco has lashed out at the
WTA for its handling of the Finals event. The last mega-event is set to begin in
less than a weeks’ time where top-eight players in the world will participate
to secure the ultimate prize.
For the first-time ever, the competition will be organised
in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The decision to allow the competition to be held in
the oil-rich Middle Eastern country has received criticism from different quarters
of the tennis community. Another name who can be added to that list is of Eurosport
journalist Monaco who criticised WTA’s decision making regarding one of the
biggest event in women’s tennis calendar.
Monaco was of the opinion that WTA’s planning regarding the
event has been disastrous where no one is aware about just, even just weeks
before the start of the actual event. He was of the opinion that WTA as an
organisation has failed to realise that they cannot sell a player like Serena
Williams to the audience who managed to keep the competition alive for the fans
for good part of two decades.
"The
WTA Finals in recent years have been a minor
event, which no one knew where it was until a few months before,” he said. “They
had a crazy prize money in Shenzhen, but after Covid in Mexico, in the USA…
given that the Finals have a meager program, why not put the two events
together? An event like that in recent years has been disastrous. It would take
more effort on the part of the WTA to do better. A
Serena Williams can't always
come along and attract that much attention. I've always heard the talk about
them playing badly. My veins close, it's tennis, it's high level, make an
effort, it's worth it. In addition to communication, rivalry was lacking. The
women's level has stabilized incredibly in recent years."