Was the last WTA tournament held in Gstaad in 2018? According to tournament director Jean-Francois Collet, the women’s event is on the brink of collapse, as the finances are no longer right.
Traditionally, top tennis is played in Gstaad for two weeks in a row each year. One week of women’s tennis, then the men follow the yellow felt ball in the Bernese Oberland. However, this seems to be too much for the Gstaad tournament.
According to tournament director Jean-Francois Collet, the WTA tournament is in the red and the financial situation is extremely precarious: “Unlike men, we are not in the black. The losses are not catastrophic, but we still have to do something,” said Collet after the men’s final last Sunday.
Matteo Berrettini beat Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut in two sets in the final and secured his first ATP title. The men’s tournament was well attended, Collet said. A week earlier, however, the viewer saw empty seats in front of the television.
Not even top star and public favourite Eugenie Bouchard could fill the stands. Even when Alize Cornet won the title in the final, large parts of the ranks were not occupied.
Collet have two solutions in mind for the tense situation of the WTA tournament.
On the one hand, it is being considered whether the women’s and men’s event will be merged and combined in one week. To do this, the tournament area would have to be expanded and around 100 matches would have to be played in nine days.
The second option would be to move the WTA event to a different location and hand over the rights. The tournament at Rothenbaum in Hamburg is under discussion.