Tennis fans have called out the scheduling of the WTA Finals after several top players, including Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, and Iga Swiatek, withdrew from the Billie Jean King (BJK) Cup Finals which are set to take place immediately afterward.  

The squad for Team USA at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals was announced on October 9, with Madison Keys, Sofia Kenin, Danielle Collins, Sloane Stephens, and Taylor Townsend set to take to the court at the prestigious international team tournament. 

However, two notable omissions were World No. 3 Gauff and No. 4 Pegula, who qualified to compete in both singles and doubles at the WTA Finals, which will be held in Cancun, Mexico, from October 29 - November 5.

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Tight schedule between different continents leads to withdrawals

This scheduling gives only two days between the end of the WTA Finals and the beginning of the BJK Cup Finals, which are set to take place in Seville, Spain, from November 7-12. As a result, top players who have qualified for the former event have been forced to prioritize the season-ending championship between the Top 8 in the world.

World No. 2 Swiatek also opted not to represent Team Poland at the BJK Cup Finals for the second year in a row due to concerns about the tight scheduling.

Consequently, fans have taken to social media to call out the schedule and express their outrage.

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"An impressive squad that can win it, despite the absence of two top-five players. But the absence of said top-five players speaks volumes about the scheduling," wrote one fan on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"Good team without Coco and Jess but kinda s*itty how scheduling basically forced the WTA finals qualifiers out of competition," added another.

"Y’all need to fix this mess of the schedule @WTA. Because what is this lineup?" another commented.

"When the Women’s Tour finals is preventing the USA’s Top 2 players Gauff and Pegula from playing in the Women’s Team finals (the Billie Jean King Cup), there’s a problem," wrote The Tennis Podcast.

Stephanie Myles

@OpenCourt

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An impressive squad that can win it, despite the absence of two top-five players. But the absence of said top-five players speaks volumes about the scheduling.

USTA

@usta

Squad is set! See you soon, @BJKCup!

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