“This is not the level for WTA Finals,” World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka makes her feelings clear towards the Tour authorities following the shambolic arrangements in Cancun

Aryna Sabalenka expressed her concerns regarding the playing schedule of the WTA Finals and bashed the WTA for the lack of practice time.

“This is not the level for WTA Finals,” World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka makes her feelings clear towards the Tour authorities following the shambolic arrangements in Cancun

Aryna Sabalenka in action during a match. (credits: Flashscore.com)

With the 2023 WTA Finals expected to take place later on Sunday, all the top eight female tennis stars of the world are looking forward to playing their A-game in the hope of lifting the last piece of silverware of the 2023 season.

However, World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka has not been a great fan of the current schedule and looked dissatisfied with the limited practice time due to the newly built 4,300-seat temporary stadium. 

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At the pre-match conference, Sabalenka talked about how unhappy she was about not being able to practice and slammed the WTA for their casual behavior in choosing the new stadium as the venue for this year’s WTA Finals. She also added that players must be allowed a few days to get themselves settled into the new conditions of the venue. 

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I’m not happy that we couldn’t practice on the match court, meaning like on the stadium. I think this is not the level for the WTA Finals.
Aryna Sabalenka via WTA Finals Cancun Press

She further added: 

We literally have one hour today, like 45 minutes, to try the stadium. This is something I’m not happy with. I’m pretty sure the rest of the players are also not happy. At the same time, yes, I know we’re all in the same conditions. But this is not conditions for the WTA Finals. So it’s not great. I mean, usually we need like three to four days to kind of like adjust to conditions. But we’ll see. I guess it is how it is. But I hope that next year WTA will do better job.

Aryna Sabalenka’s first 2023 WTA Finals group stage matchup:

Aryna Sabalenka, who was the runner-up for last year’s edition, is all set to go all the way this year. She starts her campaign against eight-seeded Greek star Maria Sakkari on Monday. Maria hasn’t quite had the best of performances this year and would consider herself quite fortunate enough to participate in this competition. Her first title of the year came very late at the recently played Guadalajara Open.

Maria Sakkari and Aryna Sabalenka
Maria Sakkari and Aryna Sabalenka ahead of their 2022 WTA Finals matchup. (credits: Free Betting Tips)

Considering their past meetings, Sabalenka has the upper hand, having won six matches compared to Sakkari’s three wins in the nine meetings they had against each other. 

However, it was against Sakkari that Sabalenka lost her first match at the group stage in the WTA Finals, and it is going to be a thrilling encounter between the top-seeded and the lowest-seeded players of the competition. 

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