Jessica Pegula has not had the greatest of seasons but has done enough to finish within the top eight and take her place at the WTA Finals in Cancun. Further, she is only one of the two players who have qualified to play both singles and doubles at the season finale.
But, rather than the players taking center stage at the tournament, the headlines have been made by the inability to play at best in the new stadium, due to the conditions on offer. Many top players have deemed the stadium for not being game-ready, and have criticized the WTA vehemently, for its carelessness.
Fans were not to be left behind too far, as they reached out on social media to take a dig at the organizers. Many of them felt that if Jessica Pegula went on to win the tournament, she should buy the WTA as well as the ATP and ring in the necessary changes for the betterment of the sport.
Yup. Jess legacy could be that. Owning both the WTA and ATP and finally making things right. That’d be an unmatched legacy.
— I Love Sports and Books (@Zangerstein) November 1, 2023
Always say Jess is going to buy tennis and fix it when she is done lol
— PopNFlo (@MSTwitir3K) November 1, 2023
Some fans felt that Pegula Sports & Entertainment was completely capable of buying the WTA without any outside investment. With the net worth of Jessica’s dad standing at a staggering 7 billion, there seems to be not much wrong with what fans are vouching for.
Pegula Sports & Entertainment is pretty capable of buying them without outside investors. Her dad’s net worth alone is like 7B 😂 Buy the WTA @JPegula 😊
— Nanya (@NanyaBisnez) November 1, 2023
Jessica has been renowned for her net worth more than for her tennis. Her net worth cumulates to billions of Dollars which is something not many sports personalities can dream of. It makes her the “richest tennis player” of all time and probably the richest sports personality in the world. The American’s earnings through prize money alone stands at about $10,184,118, as of August 2023.
Iga Swiatek reveals how to save WTA from vanishing
Iga Swiatek, the world no.2, has revealed that female tennis players are united and fighting for changes to be brought about in the sport. Adding that, “Honestly, I think there’s plenty they can do. It’s a pretty weird situation where we have meetings with the WTA & we kind of explain to them what should be done sometimes...” Iga felt that there was room to work on.
With regards to the playing conditions for the WTA Finals, the Pole opined, “…Obviously, they decided late that we’re gonna play here. The marketing should be better…” She went on to add that it is a sort of shame that they didn’t have a stadium with full capacity and get a feel as if they are at a tennis celebration for the entire week.
Iga Swiatek says WTA’s marketing should be better:
“Honestly, I think there’s plenty they can do. It’s a pretty weird situation where we have meetings with the WTA & we kind of explain to them what should be done sometimes. For sure, there’s potential to work on that. Obviously,… pic.twitter.com/L3RQpqt4tp
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) November 2, 2023
The hard court which was temporarily set up on a golf course was widely criticized by Swiatek as well as other players. It was because of the quality of courts and also for being made available for practice, just before the commencement of the competition. After her first match, the world no.1, Aryna Sabalenka termed the conditions, “another level of disrespect.”
Stating that, one has to accept what it is, Swiatek claimed, “Hopefully for the future there won’t be any more situations like that & they’re gonna work to improve that because we’re doing our best at every tournament.“ She went on to quote that in Grand Slams, there are full stands even in 2nd rounds and so, there is a lot of scope for improvement.