Aryna Sabalenka is No.1

Women’s tennis of 2023 got a better rating this year with Aryna Sabalenka, Coc Gauff, Karolina Muchova, Elena Rybakina, Marketa Vondrousova, Ons Jabeur, Iga Swiatek, Madison Keys and Jessica Pegula performances. The composition of lesser controversial personalities and more tennis variants made WTA tennis appealing in 2023. With differences in playing ability being minimal, stroke making efficiency positioning and risk taking shot selection created close encounters. Spectators were spellbound. No one was able to win high or easy this year. Spectators worldwide witnessed better variants on all three playing surfaces.

In 2023, first year without health restrictions, WTA conducted over 60 events in its 52-week calendar. Players had to accommodate physical strain, travel and mental stress. Courtside medical calls increased. Strapped shoulders, upper thigh and walkovers increased. These added to the drama, ‘No pain no gain’.

Long Calendar

After the US Open in September, WTA has events until Christmas. Most of them are in Far East with attractive prize money. Players use various formula to sustain ranking. This year 25-year-old American Caroline Dolhide played 32 events going up 69 positions to 42. That is a very hard road.

Sabalenka, a Belarus, played only 17 events in 2023 and collected 9266 points to be the number one of WTA for the first time. Strangely, she won only one Grand Slam title – the Australian Open of 2023. Sabalenka over took Swiatek after latter lost under performing with injuries. Sabalenka lost to Gauff in the US Open final in September. To win Gauff outlasted and outpaced a stronger and a larger opponent. Sabalenka’s career earning stands at 20 million US dollars. This year alone seven million dollars.

Gauff - strength of players

The last player from Belarus to be the number one was Victoria Aazerenka (34) now ranked 17 and still a formidable opponent. Her tennis is different to Sabalenka. Individualised coaching is enabling the strength and ability of player.

Gauff is 19-years-old. Four years ago, she was the youngest player in the teenage parade. Evolving steadily, now she moves better, shows stability in stroke making and above all has the ability to detect the ball direction very early to cover court. Currently she is in the top three of WTA ranking. If she sustains her current form, she will be the best teenagers after Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.

Survival after prominence

Survival formula after tennis is a major issue to players. To earn enough a players must get into the Top 5 of the world ranking for noticeable period and then on survive to be a Top 20. Most players in position of the WTA and ATP ranking of 11 to 25 now had Top 10 position in the past. This way they maintain good income until around 35 years of age. Then what? Life does not end at 35.

Even players like Pete Sampras, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer did not get good endorsements from their previous sponsors when they stopped playing. Their income declined drastically, a frightening fact. In the case of Federer, he was shocked not to get a good sponsorship he had when he was playing. He ended up with a Japanese product and Sampras did not get any. Bjorn Bork and Boris Becker declared bankruptcy. Be aware of this.

Pro-exhibition format

In the scale seen now started by Mahesh Boopathi of India. His was a jet-set-whistlestop in four major cities and supported highend city hotel tourism profile. The current one is Laver Cup. City hotel one location sports tourism format. This year it is in Vancouver, Canada. Reviews do not show much of an appeal for the event. Their events are not entirely with past players.

Post career prospects of elite players were never very good in sports. Diego Maradona, famous of all famous, had it bad. I know of many German footballers operating in areas, where they need external expertise. Some unable to cope are into drugs.

WTA final Cancun, Mexico

This year, the final of WTA tennis with the Top 8 players will be in Mexico, from October 29 to November 5. A group event feeding into the knockout semi-final. The eligible players are Sabalenka, Swiatek, Gauff, Pegula, Rybakina, Sakkari, Jabeur, Vondrosova and possibly Muchova. This may not be the final as there are events in October too providing ranking points.

Tennis in 19th Asian Games

The first Asian Games was in 1958. The dominating tennis countries are Japan, South Korea, China, Indonesia and India. In 1962, our women’s team from Ceylon won the bronze medal with Ranjini Jayasuriya, Wendy Molligoda and Sria Gooneratne. Ranjini Jayasuriya won the silver medal in Singles. Sri Lanka has won four tennis medals in total in Asian Games. In this year’s event in China, there will be 23 teams. We did not qualify.

--George Paldano, European and Asian competition player; Coach German Tennis Federation; National coach Brunei and Sri Lanka; Davis Cup, Federation Cup coach, coached ATP, WTA and ITF ranked players in Europe and Asia; WhatsApp +94775448880-