"Why do I have to be punished?": Doubles star Ellen Perez blasts "scheduling disaster" at 2023 WTA Finals

Doubles player Ellen Perez has blasted the "scheduling disaster" at the 2023 WTA Finals in Cancun, Mexico, which has given her only one day to get to Seville, Spain for the Billie Jean King (BJK) Cup Finals.

Perez and her doubles partner Nicole Melichar-Martinez have made it to the final of the 2023 WTA Finals in Cancun after defeating Ena Shibahara & Shuko Aoyama and Demi Schuurs & Desirae Krawczyk in the Group Stage before ousting Gabriela Dabrowski & Erin Routliffe in the semi-final 6-1, 6-7 (1), 10-6.

However, rather than this being a cause for celebration, the Australian player has been left to feel as though she is being "punished" by the WTA, as she is scheduled to play a match at the BJK Cup in Spain just one day after the final in Cancun.

This stressful situation serves as an example of what many players and fans feared would happen when Cancun was announced as the location of the WTA Finals back in September, as athletes would have to travel to another continent immediately afterward and suffer through jet lag if they wanted to also take part in the BJK Cup Finals.

"Anyone got a private jet and want to fly me from Cancun to Seville tomorrow night to make it in time for BJKC Tuesday 10am match. Really not impressed with this scheduling disaster. Why do I have to be punished for this?" Perez wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Many others were also left unimpressed and outraged by the WTA's scheduling decision.

"It is absurd. The WTA should be ashamed of themselves," wrote one fan on X.

"This really sucks and you all deserve better. Good luck in Seville," added another.

Meanwhile, another expressed their confusion as to why the WTA and ATP did not involve their players more in decision-making processes, referring to Jannik Sinner's withdrawal from the Paris Masters last week after he was not given sufficient time to recover from a match as another example of recent scheduling problems.

"Why isn't there current professionals players' board or involvement in some decisions of ATP/WTA?

Last week same thing happened with Jannik Sinner and now this.

It shouldn't just be the business at the cost of athletes who are at the core of generating this business!" they wrote.