The Copa Colsanitas Zurich is the only WTA Tour level tournament held in Colombia. But for all of its history and charm, the Copa Colsanitas, commonly known as WTA Bogota, is grappling with a variety of issues that continue to tarnish its reputation. And the growing sentiment from several tennis fans is that the tournament might easily top the list of being the worst on tour. So which are the pain points that hold this near three-decade event from booming and can the WTA fix them?
Bogota has an awkward spot on the calendar
Let’s be honest here. The WTA Bogota has long taken an uncomfortable slot on the tennis calendar that it almost feels like an afterthought. Historically, the first week of April tends to signal the start of the European clay wing. The WTA 500 in Charleston, South Carolina in the United States (on green clay) serves as a perfect transitional event for most top players before crossing the Atlantic, rendering Bogota (which runs concurrently with Charleston in the same week) as an outlier.
Weaker fields
The entry list for this year’s tournament is headed by Marie Bouzkova, ranked 51st in the WTA rankings. The number of Top 100 players in the draw is countable by hand. There were a few exceptions in the past, but generally, the tournament has struggled to attract top-tier names because of its peculiar spot on the calendar and the logistical challenges it presents that it’s not worth the time and effort. Lack of interest means that the tournament organizers are left with the option of handing out wild cards to largely unheralded youngsters. The top names opt for a less demanding trip to Charleston after Miami instead of trekking to Bogota.
Unpredictable weather and unforeseen disruptions
It’s tough to imagine a more recent edition of the WTA Bogota that was not marred by inclement weather. Last year, main draw action was hampered by persistent rain for four consecutive days. This is a nightmare for all involved including the players and fans. Matches are rescheduled and sometimes players can be called to play multiple rounds in a day, potentially leading to increased workload. Additionally, unforeseen circumstances such as a power outage that happened last season are another factor that could easily disrupt a player’s pre-match routine.
Lower prestige and prize money, and little to no media coverage
The WTA Bogota is in the 250-level which is normally considered an entry-level tournament on Tour, and the women’s governing body has a controversial rule that restricts multiple Top 10 players from signing up. The absence of big names in any tennis tournament lowers its prestige. There is reduced fan interest and the tournament has to adjust its prize money to align with its revenues. All WTA 250s offer the same amount in prize money with the champion taking home $36,300 (still lower than losing the first round of a Grand Slam). With this year’s tournament already at the halfway mark, the WTA has done very little to promote the event on its website with its major focus on the Charleston Open.
Can the WTA fix the mess and restore Bogota’s identity?
Yes and no. This tournament is still a staple in South America with Bogota maintaining a very strong tennis community. We’ve seen some young players in recent years using Bogota as a stepping stone to more great things. Amanda Anisimova won her first WTA title in Bogota in 2019 and broke into the world’s Top 20 this season.
Camila Osorio is a two-time champion of the event. A home champion is always a source of local pride. But most importantly she generates a sense of excitement that is almost palpable. Osorio’s success is already having a far-reaching effect with a slew of Colombian teenagers picking up a racket looking to emulate her. But the tennis calendar is a truly complex grid that doesn’t function seamlessly like scratching a line from a notebook and rewriting it. It is meticulously planned and requires a lot of back-and-forth engagement with multiple stakeholders.
A wise move would probably involve the formation of the WTA’s own Golden Swing, incorporating all Latin America tournaments for two to three weeks (preferably in February after the Australian Open or September after the US Open). If that would prove problematic, then Bogota might have to be downgraded to a WTA 125K tournament or scrap it entirely. The WTA needs to act and fast or else Bogota will just be a mere footnote in an already-packed calendar.
Main Photo Credit: Matthias Hauer/GEPA via USA TODAY Sports
