"This is amateurism": Caroline Wozniacki's father Piotr doesn't hold back on WTA thoughts, calls organisation 'ridiculous' and 'pathetic'

WTA
Tuesday, 21 May 2024 at 08:42
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Caroline Wozniacki's father did not hold back in a damning verdict of the organisation of the WTA during a feature-length interview with Polish publication SportPL. He called the organisation who run the tournaments ridiculous, and pathetic and said what they promote is amateurism.
This after he also ripped into the thought process of the WTA in the same interview regarding a lack of help for his daughter Caroline Wozniacki in her return to the sport. He said during that part of the interview that they didn't try to qualify for Roland Garros as they wanted to see if they would be respected with a wildcard.
He also said that in his belief, more help should be given to returning mothers such as Wozniacki who have done a lot for the game instead of being fed to the wolves and having to start from scratch. In particular, he used the WTA Finals as his leading example of it being badly run.
"We all keep repeating that the WTA arranges its calendar incorrectly and does not care about the promotion of players and competitions. And it doesn't help. Why? Because, honestly, the women who rule tennis are not interested in all this at all," he said to Sport.PL.
"Every day we have to deal with unfinished topics, and a lively discussion lasts a day or two after a famous article, interview or especially after a bizarre WTA mishap. But in fact, it is also a discussion that comes down to saying: "Yes, now something really needs to be done about it! It shouldn't be like this!", and then absolutely nothing is done.
"As proof, I suggest you remember the last WTA Finals tournament - instead of prestige, it was a failure. After all, eight of the best tennis players in the world were brought to Mexico as if they wanted to mock them. They were given a crooked court with empty stands to play on. And it was given at the last minute, so it was not possible to practice on this court first.
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The father of Caroline Wozniacki hit out at the WTA for what he perceives to be 'amateurism' in their running of the sport.
"Looking only at earnings, the activists did not even check that these girls would be forced to play in heavy rain and strong winds. And what? And of course nothing - it happened, it passed. And it will continue to be so.
"Women's tennis is a completely different sport than men's tennis when it comes to the operation of the organization. This is amateurism. Women in sports are often said to be an inspiration and that it is healthy for them to interrupt their careers, start families, give birth to children and return to the sport they love. Because this is their way of showing everyone that it can be done. In fact, these are fairy tales. This is ridiculous. And even more - it's pathetic!"

Bubble will burst - Wozniacki

But also he cited scheduling and that the bubble will burst eventually due to the amount of tournaments that the big names are playing back-to-back. "The WTA does not help women players in any way. Absolutely nothing! All these discussions about the worse times of women's matches, about the less prestigious courts and stadiums in which they play - I don't even want to mention it, Iga, Rybakina and other top players are constantly demanding this. But it's still asking for the same thing, because it still doesn't come.
"Maybe one day someone will finally understand where mental problems come from. Players talk about it more and more often in interviews, but it is not enough. That's why they stop playing for a few months, it happens more and more often that they cover themselves with injuries, and in fact they are not able to cope mentally. Because difficult things keep getting worse until this balloon of poisoned air bursts at some point," he continued.
"How can it be good when the rules require you to play Madrid and Rome or Indian Wells and Miami back to back and the rules don't say that it's too much for someone, that someone can't cope? In such a case, these regulations impose a financial penalty on you for not playing a certain tournament."

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