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The exciting tennis action on the opening day of the 2022 WTA Finals was overshadowed by very low attendance numbers and a lack of crowds to watch the matches on Monday. To boost attendance and entice more fans to watch the season-ending championship at Dickies Arena, ticket prices have been reduced by the tournament organizers.
The opening day of the WTA Finals saw the 14,000-seater stadium occupied at less than 10% of its total capacity, despite American No. 1 and World No. 3 Jessica Pegula, American teenage sensation and World No. 4 Coco Gauff (doubles), and World No. 2 Ons Jabeur, among other top players, in action.
In light of very low attendance numbers, ticket prices for Day 2, Tuesday, November 1, were reduced to as low as $6 at one time. As things stand, the price range for tickets on Ticketmaster is still starting from as low as $20. General ticket prices for the next two days are also currently selling at a starting price of $20.
Tennis fans took to social media to express their sheer dissatisfaction at seeing such a low turnout in Texas for one of the most important tournaments of the season on the WTA tour, despite the opening night featuring the two highest-ranked American players in the world.
Meanwhile, leading tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg believes that attendance numbers on opening night, i.e Monday, should not be taken too seriously as it was Halloween as well as a weeknight. However, he hopes the locals will turn up and show their support for the Top 8 players in the world throughout the remainder of the tournament.
"WTA Finals in Fort Worth look good, and the ~1,000 fans in attendance are very engaged, it’s just a question of if more crowd will show up as word gets out about an event that was only announced last month," Ben Rothenberg tweeted. "Not going to judge solely by a Halloween night crowd on a Monday."
Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff in action on Day 2 of WTA Finals 2022
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek will begin her campaign at the 2022 WTA Finals against World No. 8 Daria Kasatkina in the first singles match on Tuesday. Swiatek is aiming for her maiden title at the season-ending championships and ninth title of the 2022 season. She lost her first-ever tour-level head-to-head match against Kasatkina in Eastbourne last year but won their next four matches. All those wins for the Pole have come this season, with the latest a 6-2, 6-1 win in the French Open semifinals.
New World No. 4 Coco Gauff will also kickstart her singles campaign on Tuesday against Caroline Garcia, in what will be Gauff's debut at the WTA Finals. She holds a narrow 2-1 win-loss record against Garcia, but the French player won their last match, a quarterfinal contest at the 2022 US Open, in straight sets.
