Playing in the WTA Finals in Cancun, Mexico, has been difficult due to strong winds and rain.To exacerbate the situation, the rain continued to fall during Thursday night’s match between Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina. It should come as no surprise that this caused the play to start and stop abruptly. The bad weather has caused a disruption in the tournament schedule.
Tennis commentator Lindsay Davenport expressed her frustration with the weather conditions in a video that the Tennis Channel posted.
She slammed the WTA organizers for setting this up in Cancun and said: “You can’t be serious. Chanda! What did you do? Why is it raining in a tropical climate place?”
Davenport’s comments highlight the unexpected challenges that participants and organizers at the WTA Finals in Cancun are facing. This sparked questions about whether the location was appropriate for a well-known tennis tournament.
Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina both expressed frustration with how the strong winds were interfering with their gameplay. The world No. 1 Sabalenka said that these circumstances are far from ideal for the highly regarded event, despite their attempts to improve.
"You can't be serious Chanda!" – @LDavenport76
The rain is back 😐#WTAFinals pic.twitter.com/7NqOCDp8hI
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) November 3, 2023
Aryna Sabalenka in 2023
Now ranked no.1, the Belarussian played her last match on the 31st of October when she lost to world no.5 Jessica Pegula 6-4 6-3 in the round robin in Cancun (draw).
Presently, during this year Sabalenka owns a composed 54-13 record. The Belarussian conquered 3 titles in 2023 in Adelaide, Australian Open and Madrid. Sabalenka was the runner-up in Indian Wells, Stuttgart and U.S. Open.
Elena Rybakina in 2023
Now the world no.4, Rybakina played her last match on the 31st of October when she beat world no.9 Maria Sakkari 6-0 6-7(4) 7-6(2) in the round robin in Cancun (draw).
Currently, during this season Elena has an overall 47-14 match record. The Kazakhstani conquered 2 titles in 2023 in Indian Wells and Rome. Rybakina got to the final at the Australian Open and Miami.
Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina clashed against each other 6 times. Their head to head is 4-2 for Sabalenka. Before, the last time they played, Elena Rybakina won 7-5 6-2 in the quarter in Beijing (China Open) on the 6th of October 2023.
In the following video you can watch the key moments of their match.