Iga Swiatek shared her thoughts on the WTA Finals moving to Saudi Arabia in the coming years, admitting that the players had no say in it.
The organization was created by players for players, but over the years, it’s grown into something much bigger, slowly taking away the real power from players. Players are not powerless, of course, but they don’t hold that much power in the grand scheme of things.
The other truth is that most of them are not opposed to the event being held in Saudi Arabia. Some have come out publicly in support, while others have stayed silent.
Many admitted some reservations due to the country’s human rights record, but there hasn’t been anyone publicly boycotting it. Ultimately, the decision was made that the WTA Finals will be played in Saudi Arabia in the coming years, and as the world no. 1 on the WTA Tour, and likely WTA Finals candidate, Swiatek shared her thoughts on that at the 2024 Madrid Open.
“I have learned that, no matter how many meetings we have, we do not have any decision-making power. I hope the WTA Finals will always be a great event, but I was wondering if the WTA will make any changes.”
Despite what history has taught her so far, Swiatek hopes the players will get involved more in the future because it would make things easier for them.
Some decisions in the past were made without asking the players, and they turned out to be disasters. Ultimately, they are the party most affected by any change, so they should have a loud voice.
“Sometimes it’s uncomfortable. We have had a couple of situations where it would be good for the WTA to take lessons from what happened, such as the changes in mandatory WTA tournaments. It’s a little hard for us because these are important issues for our calendar and our recovery time.”
“So I hope everything changes. We will have more meetings, but I want to discover the influence we will have on these decisions.”
