Howdy, y'all. The Hologic WTA Tour's sweet 16, or 2022's top eight singles players and top eight doubles teams, have been touching down in Fort Worth, Texas, ahead of the season-ending WTA Finals over the last few days. If their social media accounts are anything to go by, they've been out and about on the town enjoying all that Fort Worth has to offer.
But before the players arrived, the trophies they'll hope to win toured Fort Worth's social scene. Since 2014, the singles and doubles winners of the year-end championships have received the Billie Jean King Trophy and the Martina Navratilova trophy, respectively.
Early in the week, the trophies toured several local attractions including the historic Fort Worth Stockyards district, Billy Bob's country music dance hall, the Fort Worth Zoo and Botanic Gardens and Texas Christian University's (TCU) tennis facility, before officially arriving at Dickies Arena, where the Finals will be held.
From famous locales to local looks: Ahead of their second appearances at the Finals, Caroline Garcia and Maria Sakkari took some time to get acquainted with Fort Worth fashion.
Meanwhile, Barbora Krejcikova enjoyed some of Texas' top cuisine. The Czech, the reigning WTA Finals champion with compatriot Katerina Siniakova, treated herself to some of the state's world-famous barbecue on her arrival.
Speaking of good eats, Jelena Ostapenko—who qualified in doubles with Lyudmyla Kichenok—put on her chef's hat for one of her first meals in Texas.
Aryna Sabalenka and Demi Schuurs snapped two halves of the same sun; as she descended on Fort Worth on Wednesday, Sabalenka posted the sunset as seen from her airplane window, while Schuurs was up bright and early for Thursday's morning sunrise.
A sweet surprise: Three players who'll no doubt be crowd favorites in Fort Worth—Coco Gauff, Desirae Krawczyk and Giuliana Olmos—were among those who shared how the players have been given a warm welcome.
In the coming days, the stars will get down to business: The WTA Finals draw ceremony and iconic photoshoot will be held on Friday, Oct. 28, while the players will meet the media on Saturday, Oct. 29. Play begins on Monday, Oct. 31.
