The WTA Finals are going on in my own backyard this week. This provides an opportunity to take a peek into some of the behind-the-scenes logistics involved with putting on a professional tennis event of this caliber. While the competition court in Dickies Arena is very publically visible, the 8 singles players and doubles teams require additional practice courts. For a WTA Final, it needs to be the same surface that is used in competition.
Last Tuesday, I wrote about the configuration of the outdoor courts at Texas Christian University. This week we are heading indoors at that same facility. The WTA has installed “official” practice courts over two TCU indoor courts. The surface construction and composition are an exact match to the main court at Dickies Arena.
This is more complex than you might imagine. A floating foundation was overlayed on top of the existing court. The original net was removed and replaced with an official WTA net. They also added sideboards with all the sponsor logos exactly as used for competition.
My friend Wayne was playing at the facility early last week and reported that Ons Jabeaur was already in town practicing at TCU. She was also spotted on a secondary practice court at Dickies Arena before the competition court was completed.
Wayne was kind enough to share a couple of photos he took of the surface. It looks awesome.
The WTA Finals are in progress through November 7. The last time I checked, individual tickets for many of the upcoming sessions are still available. It is a great opportunity to see the top WTA players play head-to-head.
