Garbine Muguruza and Paula Badosa received a lot of criticism back home in Spain after announcing they have pulled out of the Billie Jean King Cup Finals. The announcement came only hours after it became known that the duo had officially qualified for the WTA Finals. The two events are happening in consecutive weeks so the decision to pull out can be justified.
That is according to compatriot Feliciano Lopez who defended their decision saying:
"To be honest, I understand the decision that Garbine and Paula made. The problem is not about them, but with the timing. You cannot play in Prague on Thursday and four days later in Mexico. The schedule that the WTA has put in place is a disaster."
Lopez is a making a fair point with the scheduling on both the WTA and ATP tour sometimes rather curious. After the decision became public Muguruza said:
"I have not been home since July. The recovery on my ankle is taking a little longer than expected and I will spend the next weeks trying to get ready for Guadalajara. I wish the team all the best and cheer for you to do very well."
Badosa wrote on her own Twitter that it was her dream since she was a little girl to go to the Finals and she was sorry to miss the Billie Jean King Cup Finals. Both of them were heavily criticized in the Spanish media.