The WTA season is officially over.

The WTA Finals in Fort Worth marked the grand finale for a season that was marked by surprises and for the most part, a lack of dominance. Sure, Iga Swiatek, went on a crazy winning streak. However, that dominance still saw her fall short at the WTA Finals. As for the rest of the field, it’s a complete and utter mess. The rest of the top 10 in the women’s game changes by the hour.

Don’t expect this to change any time soon. There seems to be a gap in the WTA, and it seems like there will be surprise winners at all the big tournaments once again next year. Back to the WTA Finals though. One of the most disappointing things was the lack of attendance at the matches. Commentators and fans alike brought up this fact throughout the week of play. For a tournament this important, there’s absolutely no excuse for the WTA not to be able to choose a venue that will be packed for every single match.
Maybe the WTA needs to take note of the ATP. I can assure you that there won’t be a single empty seat at the ATP finals next week. The first question would be why there are empty seats. I wouldn’t point to the popularity of women’s tennis vs. the men. We have seen these WTA Finals take place in other countries and the venues are usually packed for them. I think the problem here was moving this event from Guadalajara to Fort Worth. Hopefully, the WTA takes note and doesn’t make the same mistake next year. Fans notice and they don’t like turning on the TV to find empty seats in the arena. It downgrades the viewing experience.

In terms of the tennis that was played at the finals, that most definitely did not disappoint. There were solid matches throughout, and surprises as well. Just when we thought Swiatek was dominating the field, Sabalenka took her out in spectacular fashion. Unfortunately for her, Caroline Garcia has been playing crazy good tennis.

This is the Caroline Garcia, Andy Murray envisioned when he tweeted that she was the future of Women’s tennis back in 2011 when she played Sharapova at the French Open. Back then Garcia was a lanky 17-year-old that would hit every ball with abandon. Just when you thought she wouldn’t reach her potential, here she is, as the year-end WTA Finals champion. She now finishes the year ranked fourth in the world. What a story!

So, now that the season is over, what do we do? Well, never a better time to start thinking about tennis-related Christmas gifts for the entire family. Check out Tennis Warehouse’s Holiday Gift Guide!