Madrid Open finally apologizes for the sexual row

After four days of backlash, the Madrid Open finally issued an apology for last weekend’s PR debacle, which saw the women’s doubles finalist walk away without the traditional speeches, promising that “never again.”

Silencing the finalists in doubles was the last straw in the game The tournament that came under fire Sexism on many levels. he was there Controversy over revealing clothing Dressed up by the typical ball girls, the discrepancy in the size of birthday cakes served to the men’s and women’s champions, and the schedule that relegated world No. 1 Iga Swiatek into the small hours of a Saturday morning.

On Thursday morning, the tournament issued a statement from its CEO, Gerard Tsopanian. “We sincerely apologize to all the players and fans who expect more from the Mutua Madrid Open,” Tsopanyan said.

“Not giving the women’s doubles finalists the opportunity to address their fans at the end of the match is unacceptable,” he added, and we apologized directly to Victoria. [Azarenka]Beatrice [Haddad Maia]Coco [Gauff] and Jessica [Pegula]. We are working internally and with the WTA to review our protocols and are committed to improving our process moving forward. We made a mistake and it won’t happen again.”

The WTA has already indicated that it will investigate events at Caja Magica over the course of the tournament, which has been run by super agency IMG for the past two years. The Madrid Open ran over two weeks this year for the first time, but the long-running tournament has been overshadowed by controversy over its gender policies.

Pegula, a losing doubles finalist, addressed the gagging issue on Tuesday, saying, “Do I think we’re not going to be able to talk? No, I’ve never heard of that before, like, in my life. Even in the $10,000 Challenger final, You’re going to talk. I don’t know what century everyone was in when they made that decision or how they actually had a conversation and decided, ‘Wow, that’s a great decision we’re going to make and there’s not going to be a backlash against this.'” “

Meanwhile, Andy Murray lost a deciding set for the first time this season, after nine previous victories, when he lost to his old foe Fabio Fognini 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

It was a disappointing result for Murray, whose rating improved to a low in the 40s after winning Sunday’s Challenger title, and who is hoping to climb high enough to earn a place among the 32 seeded players at the slam.

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