Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina with others become the reason for WTA being forced to pay $350,000 to the Guadalajara organization

The repercussions for this is severe as the WTA has to pay a fine of around $350,000.

Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina with others become the reason for WTA being forced to pay $350,000 to the Guadalajara organization

Jessica Pegula, Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek (Credits: CNN, Tennis 365, Wikipedia and India Today)

The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) again finds itself in hot controversy. The Guadalajara Open, which went unnoticed, largely because the top female players did not participate, had asked the WTA to pay a hefty fine. The organizers have apparently imposed this fine because the WTA failed to meet the specific player’s requirements for the tournament.

The rule states that “a non-mandatory 1000 event has to at least have 4 players participate from the top 10 players of the world women’s rankings.” But as was seen, only three players from the top 10 participated in the event: Ons Jabeur, Maria Sakkari, and Caroline Garcia. Top players like Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula, Elena Rybakina, and 2023 US Open champion Coco Gauff withdrew from the tournament. Various reasons were stated by the players for pulling out. 

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But the main reason for all these players not to participate was the scheduling complications. The association was probed from all sides for scheduling late-night matches that had an adverse impact on the player’s health. 

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The repercussions for this are severe as the WTA has to pay a fine of around $350,000. As per Article III (B)(1) of the International Tennis Federation “Any withdrawal from a player accepted into the Main Draw or Qualifying of Singles or Advance Entry for Doubles of a Women’s ITF World Tennis Tour Tournament for any reason after the Withdrawal Deadline shall be considered a Late Withdrawal and will be penalized.” This states that players withdrawing also have to pay a fine, which can amount to approximately $1000.

Also read: WATCH: Daniil Medvedev ‘steals’ Jannik Sinner’s champion doll leaving the Italian frowning at the China Open 2023

The Scheduling Controversy of the WTA

The WTA has been under fire for its scheduling complications. Although the players gave various different reasons for pulling out of the Guadalajara event, the common reason was the hard-to-digest timing of the matches. Late-night matches on the WTA tour would often get delayed and then go on till early morning in some cases. 

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Former world number 1, Iga Swiatek, stated fitness as a reason for not withdrawing from the tournament. She said she needed a reset after her 75-week run as her World No. 1 came to an end on her X account.

Similarly, defending champion Jessica Pegula announced on her Instagram that she would not be participating. A clear reason was not given by the American, but there were speculations that back-to-back events had taken a toll on her well-being. On the other hand, Gauff and Rybakina did not make an official announcement for their reasons. Although Rybakina has been very vocal about her displeasure with the timing and scheduling of the WTA events,

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