Why has women's tennis lost audiences? "The players preach in the desert, alone on the court"

Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka, the two best tennis players of the moment, face each other in the semifinals at the WTA Finals in Cancun and what a thrill, they are also fighting for number one in the world ranking, but the stands are half full, they are practically empty, no there is no one, really in the public there is no one. A pain for women's tennis. And at the same time the daily life of women's tennis. The failure of the Masters Cup held last week in Mexico forced the WTA to offer explanations and promise changes, but in reality it was nothing more than the confirmation of a crisis. Tennis continues to be the only sport that generates millions for its female representatives – seven of the 10 highest-paid athletes are tennis players according to Forbes – but in recent years it has suffered a progressive loss of fans.

From Roland Garros to the Mutua Madrid Open, from Wimbledon to the WTA Finals, in most major tournaments – with the exception of the US Open due to Coco Gauff's triumph – there have been seats and more seats to fill. Because?

«There are many empty stands. Please come see us. “We are giving 100% in every match and you will surely enjoy it,” Swiatek claimed before winning the tournament in Cancun and he was right: she was giving 100%.. Since the retirement of Serena Williams, the Pole has been the only player capable of dominating the circuit and the rest have come and gone. Naomi Osaka's depression, Ashleigh Barty's retirement at 25, Simona Halep's doping sanction, Angelique Kerber's motherhood, Garbiñe Muguruza's demotivation…. Many factors have come together so that the general public does not recognize the best as it did in the past.

One fact: in the quarterfinals of the last US Open there was only one player who knew what it was like to win a Grand Slam, Sabalenka. Another: in the current Top 10 there are many tennis players from small, low-weight markets, such as Poland (Swiatek), Belarus (Sabalenka), Kazakhstan (Elena Rybakina) or Tunisia (Ons Jabeur).

“It is difficult for us to fill 1,000 seats”

Everything influences, more so in countries with tradition, where the crisis is accentuated, such as in Spain. The Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Seville are not being a success, with free stands, although the rapid elimination of the Spanish team – this Thursday they were left without options – does not help either.. «It is difficult for us to fill 1,000 seats despite not charging for tickets. And we're still lucky. I have been to many WTA tournaments this year and in most matches the players preach in the desert, alone on the court with their coaches and the referee. It is difficult to move an audience in women's tennis,” acknowledges in conversation with EL MUNDO Xavier Ponsatí, organizer of the WTA Tour 125 Solgironés, in La Bisbal d'Empordà, one of the most important tournaments organized in the country, in only a second step. behind the Mutua Madrid Open.

As he explains, the event does not generate benefits – “we fight so that we stay at zero,” he acknowledges – and it does not receive much support either.. «The WTA is very demanding with the organizers, but it is already rectifying. Until now it required a minimum capacity of 1,000 people to be on the circuit and this year it has lowered it to 750 people because it sees that there are problems,” says Ponsatí.

Serious crisis in the offices

The WTA is precisely at the center of the problem, due to its bad decisions in the last WTA Finals and its chaos, in general.. Two rumors are flying around the organization, its bankruptcy and its merger with the men's ATP, but above all they plan changes. The current director, Steve Simon, is further threatened after statements such as those of Martina Navratilova. «It is time for new leadership and I consider that it must be a woman who is in charge. “Simon has been there for nine years and look where we have ended up,” commented the former player who supported the mutiny that the stars are preparing to demand better conditions.. The circuit leaders have already published a letter – and created a WhatsApp group – to demand larger prizes, but also more breaks to avoid injuries and disappearances like those of Osaka, Barty and Muguruza.

«They ask for the same prizes, but they do not generate the same. Unfortunately, it is the reality: people watch more men's tennis,” the vice president of the Federation of Kazakhstan, a member of the ATP, Yuri Polsky, recently fired up, with the consequent controversy.. In his argument, a fact: in recent years, the four Grand Slams have already equalized the prizes and alternated men's and women's matches, without success.. In many cases, after a match with Novak Djokovic or Carlos Alcaraz, the stands empty to watch Swiatek or Sabalenka.

“If a match is boring and I have seen some, fans may want to go to another or walk through the corridors,” declared the president of the French Tennis Federation, Gilles Moretton, during the last Roland Garros.. The players argue that their matches are not promoted enough and that they always end up scheduled at the worst hours, outside the night shift, for example, although there are also voices that point them out directly.

A single style of play

“Women's tennis has become something monotonous, young women play in the same way,” analyzed Martina Hingis, one of those stars who formed the golden era, along with Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Lindsay Davenport, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Jennifer Capriati, Justine Henin, Serena and Venus Williams or Maria Sharapova. Unlike yours, in recent years, a defensive style has been imposed in women's tennis, from the back of the court, with flatter and less risky shots that do not benefit the spectacle.. Swiatek is a possible exponent, but there are more, the majority.

On the horizon there are clear ones, such as the season of the American Coco Gauff, 19 years old, called to inherit the followers of Serena Williams, or the appearance of the Chinese Zheng Qinwen, 21 years old, a more necessary profile with the Peng Shuai case without resolving. But women's tennis will take time to reverse the crisis evident in the last WTA Finals, half-standing, practically empty stands, without an audience, really without an audience.