Analyzing why Iga Swiatek wore red at WTA Finals gala while Aryna Sabalenka & others wore white

Wearing all red, Iga Swiatek looked like an outsider at the recent WTA Finals gala held in Cancun, Mexico. All the other participants — Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, Jessica Pegula, Marketa Vondrousova, Ons Jabeur, and Maria Sakkari — were dressed in white.

The 2023 year-end championships are scheduled to begin on Sunday, October 29. None of the eight competitors this year has won the WTA Finals previously.

Prior to the competition, the all-star roster graced the customary gala dressed to the nines. However, Swiatek's third consecutive WTA Finals campaign began on a rather awkward note as she wore a red dress, worth $1947, designed by Magda Butrym. Meanwhile, her contemporaries picked shades of white for the evening.

There is a possible explanation for what might have prompted such a mismatch at one of the most prestigious events on the WTA calendar.

Ellen Perez, who is set to contest the WTA Finals doubles category with partner Nichole Melichar-Martinez, posted a tweet about it on Tuesday, October 24, where she revealed details about the alterations made to the dress code.

"Cancuns dress code is a hot mess. Went from all white to colors allowed to casual not too formal but with the request it be tropical. So honestly the message has been so mixed up I pray," Ellen Perez wrote in a tweet.

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A look at Iga Swiatek's previous WTA Finals campaigns

Iga Swiatek reacts: 2022 WTA Finals

Iga Swiatek has fared poorly, as compared to her usual standards, during her previous WTA Finals campaigns.

The Pole's first-ever appearance at the year-end championships ended on a disappointing note two years ago. She was defeated 6-2, 2-6, 5-7 by Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.

Swiatek then lost her second group-stage match to Maria Sakkari, in straight sets. Even though she registered a victory against Spain's Paula Badosa in her last round-robin match, the four-time Major champion failed to make the cut for the knockouts.

In 2022, Iga Swiatek entered the WTA Finals as the top seed. For the group stage, she was drawn against the likes of Coco Gauff, Caroline Garcia, and Daria Kasatkina.

Swiatek defeated all three competitors without dropping a single set and qualified for the semifinals. Sabalenka, however, halted the 22-year-old's march in the last four.

The Belarusian bettered her opponent in a three-setter before losing to Caroline Garcia in the summit clash.