WTA Finals: Fort Worth - The grip next to the honey pot
The choice of Fort Worth to host the 2022 WTA Finals has not yet proven profitable for women's tennis.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Nov 02, 2022, 04:34 pm
In the USA there is a traditional saying in baseball: "You win some, you lose some". With 162 games in the regular season, a loss or two may not matter that much. The next day there is already another chance for the next sense of achievement. It seems to be similar when allocating the venue for the WTA Finals: sometimes you reach into the honeypot, sometimes you miss it. The problem, however, is that the end of the season should once again be a performance show for women's tennis. And when the hall is so poorly attended as it was on the first two days in Fort Worth, then something is obviously wrong.
Just a reminder: in 2019, the WTA in Shenzhen didn't provide full ranks either, but it did provide the biggest winner's check in history. Ashleigh Barty was allowed to take it to Australia after beating Elina Svitolina, Shenzhen should remain the venue for the finals. Then Corona came, then the Peng Shuai affair came - and suddenly the WTA was without a location for its finals.
Guadalajara as a real highlight
Born out of necessity, Guadalajara became a real highlight last year (honeypot!), even if the then best player in the world, Ashleigh Barty, decided against the trip to Mexico. This year it wasn't clear until a few weeks ago where the eight best singles players and doubles pairs would meet, it just turned out to be Fort Worth (no honey pot!). The decision to go there may have had financial reasons. Choosing a Texas city is logistically disastrous given the Billie Jean King Cup finals in Glasgow to be held immediately afterwards.
If only the local heroines Jessica Pegula and Cori Gauff (each qualified in singles and together in doubles) would provide playful highlights. But the two Americans are already under pressure in their second matches after their opening defeats (Pegula against Maria Sakkari, Gauff against Caroline Garcia). Just like in doubles.
The magic of the O2 Arena
Now the WTA has tried a lot with the finals in recent years, surprisingly also infecting cities with tennis that were not exactly suspect (such as Istanbul from 2011 to 2013). And it's not all bliss for the men either: In Turin, every effort is made to give the eight best of the year a great finish - but the magic of the O2 Arena in London also has to be worked out in northern Italy. But after the impressions of the first two days, it is doubtful whether there will be enough time in Fort Worth.