The final weeks of the womenâ€s tennis season showcased one last twist in the furious race to determine the qualifiers for the WTA Finals. Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, finally caught fire after a year of near misses, bulldozing through her opponents to win a title in Ningbo, China that solidified her spot in Riyadh among the eight best players in the world.
Just as significant as Rybakinaâ€s qualification, though, was its consequences for the player she usurped. Mirra Andreeva, the 18-year-old prodigy who won WTA 1000 titles in Dubai and Indian Wells this year, had seemed like a sure bet to qualify in singles for the WTA Finals. Her failure to do so underscores the fact that this year has been the toughest and most competitive womenâ€s tennis season in years.
At the top, Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek have further strengthened their claims as the two greatest players of their generation. While Sabalenka put together another supremely consistent year as the best player in the world, winning her fourth grand slam title at the US Open and reaching the Australian and French Open finals, Swiatek captured the one tournament she never imagined she could win, earning her sixth grand slam title at Wimbledon.
Still, the other top players have allowed them no rest and the intense competition has inspired countless epic high-stakes matches throughout the year. It took consecutive colossal performances from Madison Keys against Swiatek and Sabalenka to finally win her first grand slam title at the Australian Open. In Paris, Coco Gauff outsmarted Sabalenka in a dramatic, wind-afflicted three-setter to win her second grand slam title at just 21 years old. Two days earlier, Sabalenka ended Swiatekâ€s three-year reign in another unforgettable duel.
At the US Open, womenâ€s semi-final day turned out to be one of the best days of tennis this year as Sabalenka overcame Pegula in a breathless, high-quality battle before Amanda Anisimova continued her long-awaited breakthrough season by dragging herself past Naomi Osaka to reach a second consecutive grand slam final. Even Swiatekâ€s 6-0, 6-0 demolition of Anisimova in the Wimbledon final turned out to be part of one of the most compelling storylines this year. Two months later, Anisimova showed her toughness by exacting revenge on Swiatek at the earliest opportunity in New York.
Iga Swiatek enters the WTA Finals as a Wimbledon champion. Photograph: Robert Prange/Getty Images
This may have been a great year for womenâ€s tennis on the court, but on the eve of another WTA Finals, the eternal question remains whether the tour can provide its talent with a strong enough platform to turn the sport into a thriving product again. As the WTAâ€s flagship event, in recent years this tournament has reflected the tourâ€s struggles. It should actually be in the middle of a 10-year residency in Shenzhen but the Covid-19 pandemic and the WTAâ€s fleeting objections to the disappearance of Peng Shuai led to the cancellation of their agreement after the first edition in 2019.
The event then bounced between different countries each year, with various difficulties, a period that also left the WTA in a deep financial hole. The WTAâ€s inevitable embrace of Saudi Arabia addressed some of those financial issues and in recent years the organisation has been restructured. In 2023, the private equity firm CVC Capital Partners acquired a 20% stake in the WTAâ€s new commercial arm, WTA Ventures. Last August, the WTA appointed Portia Archer as its new CEO.
For all the recent changes at the WTA, which included a significant image rebrand at the beginning of the year, it remains to be seen if it can put itself on the right path. Aside from changing the graphics of their website alongside a beige new slogan – Rally The World – not so much has changed to its public offering since that rebrand. The WTA marketing budget remains a fraction of the ATPâ€s and it shows in their paltry output on social media and the lack of original content on its YouTube account.
Eight years after initiating its own bespoke subscription-based streaming product, WTA TV, the service still does not have its own app or a global presence. This also starkly contrasts with Tennis TV, the ATPâ€s streaming platform, which suffocates viewers with content. A particularly concerning development at the WTA, which does not reflect well on the organisationâ€s judgement, was the decision to end its WTA Insider initiative, one of the few ways that it effectively showcased the storylines within the sport. Otherwise, the WTA has been dire at marketing its players and their personalities for so long.
At a time when womenâ€s sport is enjoying significant growth and momentum around the world, the WTA should be leading the way. Instead, it is still stunted by its own problems and the path forward is unclear. What is certain, though, is the quality provided by the athletes on the court. As play begins on Saturday, with Gauff attempting to defend her title in a brutal field composed of the best players in the world, there will be more great tennis to come.
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