DUBAI
\nVictoria Azarenka said Monday that she hopes the WTA Finals will find a \u201cdeserving\u201d home, after a couple of years of instability after the women\u2019s tennis organisation suspended all Chinese tournaments.
\nThe former world number one and two-time Australian Open champion also urged an announcement on this year\u2019s venue soon, to allow for better marketing of the tour\u2019s flagship event.
\nThe season-ending championships feature the top eight singles players and top eight doubles teams. They were initially meant to be staged in China\u2019s southern city of Shenzhen every year for 10 years, starting with the 2019 edition.
\nThe deal with Shenzhen was record-breaking and the inaugural 2019 showpiece awarded singles champion Ashleigh Barty $4.42 million \u2013 which was the highest-ever prize money awarded to a player at any tennis event across both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s tours.
\nBut the pandemic and the fallout from the disappearance of Chinese player Peng Shuai \u2013 which led to the WTA suspending operations in China \u2013 have meant that the tour Finals have not returned to Shenzhen since 2019.
\nPeng, the former doubles world number one, has not been seen outside China since first making, and then withdrawing, accusations of sexual assault against a high-ranking official.
\nThe WTA championships were cancelled in 2020 and then found a temporary home in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 2021, and Fort Worth, Texas in 2022.
\nThe WTA Finals in Fort Worth witnessed sparse crowds and were only announced late September \u2013 less than two months before the event.
\n\u201cWe need something that is deserving of the Finals,\u201d Azarenka, an active member on the WTA Player Council, told reporters at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Monday.
\n\u201cLast couple of years with such a short announcement, absolutely no time for marketing \u2013 in my opinion \u2013 it\u2019s been undervalued.\u201d
\nAzarenka said the Guadalajara edition featured \u201cunreal\u201d crowds and believes future stagings of the prestigious tournament should receive the same welcome.
\nBut she said there was \u201cno defined place right now\u201d.
\n\u201cThere\u2019s still talks about China. There\u2019s nothing definitive.\u201d
\nThis season marks the 50th anniversary of the WTA and Azarenka spoke about the need for evolution on the tour, warning that some \u201cpeople from the older generation\u201d appear to be holding back the sport.
\nShe also called for more unity and involvement from the players when it comes to taking the sport forward.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s very difficult to change the ways that\u2019s been done, to break sort of traditions or the way it\u2019s been going,\u201d she added. \u201cTennis needs to become quicker in terms of timing.\u201d
\nShe said the professional tennis season \u2013 which spans 11 months of the year, longer than any other global sport \u2013 needs to change, as it is not \u201cexciting for fans\u201d.
\nAzarenka moved into the second round in Dubai with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Russia\u2019s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and next takes on American Amanda Anisimova on Tuesday.
\nTop seed Iga Swiatek and recent Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka are also in action at the WTA 1000 tournament on Tuesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DUBAI Victoria Azarenka said Monday that she hopes the WTA Finals will find a \u201cdeserving\u201d home, after a couple of years of instability after the women\u2019s tennis organisation suspended all Chinese tournaments. The former world number one and two-time Australian Open champion also urged an announcement on this year\u2019s venue soon, to allow for better […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":315260,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-315240","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n