Ashleigh Barty uncertain about playing WTA Finals in Guadalajara, coach Craig Tyzzer calls playing in Mexican conditions "ridiculous"
Ashleigh Barty's participation in the season-ending WTA Finals has turned into a big question mark after coach Craig Tyzzer's recent comments about the venue for the event.
The WTA Finals is an annual tournament hosting the most accomplished players from that particular calendar year. Participation is limited to only the top eight players in the world, who qualify on the basis of ranking points accumulated over the course of the season. These points are recorded on the 'WTA Race leaderboard', with the cutoff being the eighth-ranked player's points total.
Race Leaderboard:
1. Barty: 6411
2. Sabalenka: 4669
3. Krejcikova: 4398
4. Pliskova: 3972
5. Swiatek: 2921
6. Sakkari: 2842
7. Osaka: 2771
8. Muguruza: 2671
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9. Jabeur: 2435
10. Pavlyuchenkova: 2329
11. Mertens: 2325
12. Gauff: 2325
13. Svitolina: 2283
14. Raducanu: 2282
Ashleigh Barty, with a tour-leading five titles this year (including a second Grand Slam title at Wimbledon), currently sits atop the leaderboard. Having won the 2019 edition of the tournament, the Aussie is slated to enter the field as the defending champion given that the event was canceled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The city of Shenzhen in China currently enjoys the hosting rights to the WTA Finals. However, health concerns have compelled the WTA to relocate the event to a different venue this year; the Mexican city of Guadalajara has been chosen as the 2021 venue.
Ashleigh Barty's coach, Craig Tyzzer, however, has some strong opinions about this decision. Speaking to the Australian Associated Press (AAP) recently, Tyzzer highlighted the geographical drawbacks of organizing a tennis tournament in Guadalajara.
He asserted that pressure-less balls (which are likely to be used during the event) would "fly" in a city which stands at 1500 meters above sea-level.
"We only just found out it's in Mexico at 1,500 metres (above sea level) and they're using pressure-less balls," Tyzzer said. "Pressure-less balls absolutely fly. It's a ball that if you use it in normal conditions, it doesn't bounce."
He further claimed making the players play at such an altitude in unfamiliar conditions wouldn't be the "greatest advertisement", and even called the decision "ridiculous."
"I mean, it's not the greatest advertisement for the best girls in the world to be playing something they've never done before," Tyzzer continued. "In conditions they've never played, in a country they don't play and at altitude, I just feel it's ridiculous. As a spectacle, it's just frightening."
"It's almost like it's a last-gasp," he went on. "It doesn't strike me as they're really trying to promote the best girls in the world for the top eight as a showcase, to put it where it's at."
"It's a decision we'll have to sit and mull over quite a bit" - Ashleigh Barty's coach Craig Tyzzer on playing Indian Wells
Craig Tyzzer proceeded to talk about Ashleigh Barty's next set of plans. After falling in the third round of the 2021 US Open, Barty traveled back home to recharge her batteries.
Her next tournament is scheduled to be the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells in October, but Tyzzer admitted that Barty requires rest after the physical and mental exhaustion of the past few months. He added that the team would make a decision on traveling to the States by the end of the week.
"She needs to get home, she's a super homebody," Tyzzer said. "Indian Wells is still on the radar but she just needs a rest. She was physically and mentally exhausted. So I told her to just get away and have a holiday and just refresh everything. We'll probably make a decision at the end of the week about what she's going to do depending on where she's at."