• Hausa Edition
  • Podcast
  • Conferences
  • LeVogue Magazine
  • Business News
  • Print Advert Rates
  • Online Advert Rates
  • Contact Us
Wednesday, October 15, 2025
Leadership Newspapers
Read in Hausa
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
    • Football
  • Health
  • Entertainment
  • Education
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
  • Others
    • LeVogue Magazine
    • Conferences
    • National Economy
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
    • Football
  • Health
  • Entertainment
  • Education
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
  • Others
    • LeVogue Magazine
    • Conferences
    • National Economy
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
Leadership Newspapers
No Result
View All Result

Azarenka Wants Fitting Venue For Women’s Tennis Finals

by Leadership News
3 years ago
in Sport
Share on WhatsAppShare on FacebookShare on XTelegram

Victoria Azarenka said she hopes the WTA Finals will find a “deserving” home, after a couple of years of instability after the women’s tennis organisation suspended all Chinese tournaments.

Advertisement

The former world No 1 and two-time Australian Open champion also urged an announcement on this year’s venue soon, to allow for better marketing of the tour’s flagship event.

The season-ending championships feature the top eight singles players and top eight doubles teams. They were initially meant to be staged in China’s southern city of Shenzhen every year for 10 years, starting with the 2019 edition.

Advertisement

The deal with Shenzhen was record-breaking and the inaugural 2019 showpiece awarded singles champion Ashleigh Barty $4.42 million – which was the highest-ever prize money awarded to a player at any tennis event across both the men’s and women’s tours.

But the pandemic and the fallout from the disappearance of Chinese player Peng Shuai – which led to the WTA suspending operations in China – have meant that the tour Finals have not returned to Shenzhen since 2019.

Peng, the former doubles world No 1, has not been seen outside China since first making, and then withdrawing, accusations of sexual assault against a high-ranking official.

RELATED NEWS

Nigeria Takes Over G-24 Leadership, Pledges Push For Global Economic Reforms

WCQ: Courtois Attempts To Catch Rat As Belgium Beat Wales 4-2

Indonesia Denies Israelis Visas For World Championships

Arsenal Captain Ødegaard Out Until Mid-November

The WTA championships were cancelled in 2020 and then found a temporary home in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 2021, and Fort Worth, Texas in 2022.

The WTA Finals in Fort Worth witnessed sparse crowds and were only announced late September – less than two months before the event.

“We need something that is deserving of the Finals,” Azarenka, an active member on the WTA Player Council, told reporters at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Monday.

“Last couple of years with such a short announcement, absolutely no time for marketing – in my opinion – it’s been undervalued.”

Azarenka, a former world No 1 and two-time Australian Open champion, said the Guadalajara edition featured “unreal” crowds and believes future stagings of the prestigious tournament should receive the same welcome.

But she said there was “no defined place right now”.

“There’s still talks about China. There’s nothing definitive.”

This season marks the 50th anniversary of the WTA and Azarenka spoke about the need for evolution on the tour, warning that some “people from the older generation” appear to be holding back the sport.

She also called for more unity and involvement from the players when it comes to taking the sport forward.

“It’s very difficult to change the ways that’s been done, to break sort of traditions or the way it’s been going,” she added. “Tennis needs to become quicker in terms of timing.”

She said the professional tennis season – which spans 11 months of the year, longer than any other global sport – needs to change, as it is not “exciting for fans”.

Azarenka moved into the second round in Dubai with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and next takes on American Amanda Anisimova on Tuesday.

Top seed Iga Swiatek and recent Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka are also in action at the WTA 1000 tournament on Tuesday.

 

Join Our WhatsApp Channel

SendShare10168Tweet6355Share

OTHER NEWS UPDATES

Nigeria Takes Over G-24 Leadership, Pledges Push For Global Economic Reforms
Sport

Nigeria Takes Over G-24 Leadership, Pledges Push For Global Economic Reforms

8 hours ago
WCQ: Courtois Attempts To Catch Rat As Belgium Beat Wales 4-2
Sport

WCQ: Courtois Attempts To Catch Rat As Belgium Beat Wales 4-2

9 hours ago
Indonesia Denies Israelis Visas For World Championships
Sport

Indonesia Denies Israelis Visas For World Championships

9 hours ago
Advertisement
Leadership join WhatsApp

LATEST UPDATE

PICTORIAL: Ailing Finance Minister Edun Makes Surprise Appearance At London Art Fair

42 minutes ago

‘They Said I Was Destabilising PDP, Now They’re Joining APC,’ Wike Mocks Critics As Mbah, Diri Defect To Ruling Party

1 hour ago

FRSC Personnel Discover ₦6.2m Cash At Accident Scene In Katsina

1 hour ago

NALDA Rolls Out Greenhouse Project To Boost Vegetables Output

2 hours ago

Baba-Ahmed Accuses El-Rufai, APC Of Fueling Insecurity For Political Gains

2 hours ago
Load More

© 2025 Leadership Media Group - All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
    • Football
  • Health
  • Entertainment
  • Education
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
  • Others
    • LeVogue Magazine
    • Conferences
    • National Economy
  • Contact Us

© 2025 Leadership Media Group - All Rights Reserved.