Fans criticize WTA for promoting The Masters over tennis

The WTA social media team ignited a firestorm following an April 9 X post that hyped The Masters.

With a photo of Jessica Pegula pretending to hold a telephone,, the post said “Sorry we can’t come to the phone. The Masters start today.”

Fans expressed their anger that the WTA was not focusing on the European clay court opening tournament in Linz.

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The X post

Fans commented on the post that they were interested in tennis, not golf. Others criticized the WTA social media team for the poor strategic move.

Confused fans asked why the WTA was promoting men’s golf instead of women’s tennis.

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Do fans have a good reason to be angry about this?

Outside of Pegula sometimes talking about her family’s Buffalo Sabres and Bills, the WTA does not usually delve into other sports.

The Masters is well-known and does not require additional publicity. On the other hand, the WTA could use more and better awareness of its athletes.

Golf and tennis are linked

Both are individual sports. Tennis players enjoy golf in their downtime. Pegula plays. Casper Ruud, Alexander Zverev, and Carlos Alcaraz are golfers.

Retired players like Mardy Fish and Rafael Nadal play more golf after their tennis careers ended.

In fact, Nadal did a sit-down interview with ESPN at The Masters. The ATP Tour opted to promote the action at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters on its social media sites and did not make any mention of Nadal at Augusta.

Was it a WTA misstep to give The Masters so much attention, or are fans overreacting?