The Russian Irina Khromacheva, paired with the Kazakh Anna Danilina, lost to the Spanish Paula Badosa and the Czech Karolina Muchova (3:6, 2:6) in the first round of the “thousand” in Beijing.
It must be admitted that this match did not attract much attention from the fans. Doubles are objectively an order of magnitude less popular than singles and the difference in prize money is colossal. But still, the game of duets is also part of tennis. And due respect must be shown.
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It was the unfair treatment of the boys that Irina Khromacheva focused on, as Badosa and Muchova, after defeating her and Danilina, decided to withdraw from the tournament.
“Bravo, WTA… We lost in singles in the doubles tournament in Beijing. And in the second round they withdraw because they don’t care about the couple. But at the same time, they’re still playing alone this week. It’s crazy: they are taking the place of other couples who could have made it to the group and compete fully. This year it happened to me twice: a couple won in the first round and were eliminated. There is no respect for doubles players, nor for people who enter the tournament hoping to make the draw. A great rule is that players can be matched based on a single ranking. And the tournament loses a match on the schedule. Respect in the women’s circuit? There is no respect at all. I have not heard of its existence. Crazy,” Khromacheva wrote on social media.
Irina Khromacheva and Anna Danilina at the Beijing tournament
Photo: VCG via Getty Images
The cry of Khromacheva’s soul can be partly understood. Badosa and Muchova were not seriously planning to fight for the doubles title in Beijing, since they give priority to singles. They probably perceived playing duets as a simple training session.
It so happened that Paula and Carolina were able to beat Khromacheva and Danilina, although they probably did not intend to do so at any cost. And then they just backed out of doubles and focused on singles. Badosa and Muchova continue in the thousand meters category in Beijing. Paula defeated world number three and US Open finalist Jessica Pegula (6-4, 6-0) today and hopes to face China’s Zhang Shuai in the quarterfinals. Muchova easily reached the round of 16, where she will be the clear favorite in the confrontation with the Spanish Kristina Buksha.
It is worth noting that Badosa is only 252nd in the doubles ranking, and Muchova is not there at all: before Beijing, the Czech played a duet with someone at the WTA tournament more than a year ago in Montreal. At the same time, they reached the main draw thanks to a solid ranking in singles. Paula is the 19th racket in the world and Muchova is 49th. Additionally, both recently returned from injuries and clearly have the potential to climb into the top 10.
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Irina Khromacheva is ranked 28th in the WTA doubles ranking and 889th in singles, Anna Danilina is ranked 34th and 719th, respectively. In fact, there is a certain inconsistency. Khromacheva and Danilina will not be allowed to enter the main draw of the “thousandth” singles tournament in Beijing, although they probably would not mind playing even one match there and receiving significant prize money by pair standards.
Of course, no one demands such innovation. But it is worth considering the question of limiting the admission of singles to doubles tournaments. It can be argued that Khromacheva and Danilina should have defeated Badosa and Muchova, because after all, they are specialists in playing duets. This argument is partially correct, but Irina and Anna’s game, frankly, did not work. This happens. They stopped performing in Beijing. As well as the duo of Badosa and Muchova, since the Spanish and the Czech decided not to appear in the next match along with Verónica Kudermetova and Chan Haoching. But Khromacheva and Danilina could have put serious resistance to Kudermetova and Khaochin and, hopefully, even surpassed them, but the elimination of Badosa and Muchova simply created a gap in the schedule.
Karolina Muchova and Paula Badosa at the Beijing tournament
Photo: VCG via Getty Images
Khromacheva’s statement was widely reported by foreign tennis and sports websites. Furthermore, his words were published by many popular accounts on social networks, and on the Reddit platform they even created a separate thread on the topic of unfair treatment of doubles. The debate has been very active: there are currently around 200 comments, the number of which is constantly growing. “More” with support for Irina’s position was given by 600 more people than “less.”
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A significant part of fans agree with Khromacheva’s position: single skaters should have limited access to the doubles category, especially if they consider participation in tournaments to be easy training. Jessica Pegula, Corey Gauff, Katerzina Siniakova, Elena Ostapenko, Elise Mertens, Jasmine Paolini are examples of tennis players who are quite successful in both categories. There is nothing wrong with them playing doubles in big tournaments along with singles. But it is clear that Badosa and Muchova do not belong to this category. They are only good at singles, but in Beijing they played together for the first time in their careers.
The eleventh racket in the world in doubles, Australian Ellen Pérez, also supported Khromacheva.
“Khromacheva and Danilina lost on the court to Badosa and Muchova, without earning the right to play in the second round. However, these situations are very disappointing to the doubles players, who were united by the tie with the singles players. They lost, but they really wanted to succeed in this tournament,” Pérez said.
Perhaps Khromacheva’s strong statement will make the WTA think about changing the rules. Still, it is more appropriate to participate in doubles tournaments for those who really aspire to fight for the title. Badosa and Muchova were not distinguished by that desire and had no intention of playing more than one match in Beijing. And it is clear that this is not the only case of this type.
