If you can find Steve Simon, the disgraced chief of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) — earlier this weekend, he dodged public accountability by declining to speak with broadcasters — ask him to take a bow. For the second year running he’s spectacularly bungled the WTA Finals, in which the “elite eight” atop the women’s rankings face-off in a season-ending round-robin tournament.
It remains to be seen whether his incompetence will be met with consequences beyond opprobrium from players and their teams, whose concerns he only pretended to address in a terse letter that began with “Hi…”* But it’s hard to imagine how he can continue in a leadership role of such importance when he doesn’t seem to respect or appreciate WTA members enough to provide them with even minimally adequate working conditions.
Following China’s temporary suspension as the year-end finals host, a result of the Peng Shuai scandal, there were unanswered questions about where the 2022 tournament would be held. It wasn’t until September that Fort Worth, Texas was selected as its replacement. When players expressed displeasure at the delayed announcement — they need adequate time to arrange their schedules — perfunctory assurances were made that there wouldn’t be a last-minute scramble again in 2023.
The Fort Worth tournament was marred by disastrously low attendance (if not for a prior commitment, I would’ve hopped a flight and spent the week there — it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch the best in the world from any seat in the house); its financial failure was undoubtedly a contributing factor to this year’s repeat of last year’s logistical chaos. Then Saudi Arabia swooped in to woo Simon, a politically risky proposition he seemed reckless enough to entertain.
An attractive alternative presented itself in a Czech bid to host the finals in Ostrava, already home to a WTA 500-level event for the past three years. Instead, Simon whimsically (or perhaps desperately) opted for Cancún, a head-scratcher for obvious reasons: it lacked adequate facilities and the matches were scheduled for outdoor play as storms pounded Mexico. What could possibly go wrong?! The answer, it turns out, was just about everything, and for the past week downpours and heavy winds have tested the patience of players and fans alike.
Last night, I stayed up hoping to catch even a few minutes of the Świątek-Sabalenka semifinal, which was quickly suspended at 2-1 and has yet to resume. The winner will face Pegula in a final that’s delayed until Monday. This disgraceful debacle should be the last overseen by Simon, an outcome that would make winners of us all.
11/6 UPDATE: After Świątek thrashed Sabalenka last night, I told a friend “Pegula will do well not to get double-bageled.” She barely dodged that fate in the final, which Świątek won 6-1, 6-0, reclaiming the #1 spot from Sabalenka in the process. This sets up an exciting Australian Open come January, which isn’t too far away. If Świątek can sustain this level of ferocity there — she was out for blood in Cancún — Slam #5 might arrive much sooner than Roland-Garros.
* Simon’s awkward introduction reminded me of the time I tried to write “Welcome Home!” on a homemade cake, screwed it up and was instead forced to decorate it with a cheerful “Hi!”