"Someone has to take responsibility": Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka backed by coaches over 2023 WTA Finals court controversy

Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka's coaches Stefano Vukov and Anton Dubrov have backed the players' comments over the 2023 WTA Finals' court controversy.

As the all-important season-ending championships, the WTA Finals often receive a lot of attention. However, this year in Cancun the stadium and courts have been one of the major points of discussion, including among the players themselves.

After the Mexican city of Cancun was chosen as the location for the 2023 WTA Finals, the WTA revealed it would spend $6 million to build a new stadium, but fans became concerned when it was revealed just days before the tournament began that it was still unfinished.

As the event got underway and players took to the courts, top seed Sabalenka and World No. 4 Rybakina were vocal about their struggles.

"I am very disappointed with the WTA and the experience so far at the WTA Finals. As I said in my press conference tonight, as a player I really feel disrespected by the WTA. I think most of us do. This is not the level of organization we expect for the Finals.

"To be honest, I don’t feel safe moving on this court a lot of the time, the bounce is not consistent at all, and we weren’t able to practice on this court until yesterday for the first time. It’s just not acceptable to me with so much on the line and so much at stake," said Sabalenka after defeating Maria Sakkari in her opening match.

Following this, her coach Dubrov showed his support for her criticism by reposting the World No. 1's words on his Instagram story, accompanied by the caption:

"Someone has to take responsibility for that."

This was echoed by Rybakina's coach Vukov, who reposted the statement with four clapping hands emojis. Rybakina also called out the court situation after losing to Jessica Pegula in her first group-stage match.

"Overall, it’s not easy here. Everyone is struggling. Everyone is trying to do their best. As I said, I’m not really happy with the conditions and the set up of the tournament.. About the court, I don’t really want to talk.

"But of course, it’s not good. For sure not for the final 8. Because everything was late and there was no time to fix anything. You can see by the rallies and the shanks we both hit. I think the quality of the match wasn’t the greatest. But as I said, I tried to do my best," she said.