Speaking ahead of the Italian Open in Rome this week, Pegula told reporters: 'I've never heard of that (not being allowed to speak) in my life. The WTA has not made any public comment on the matter but it is understood it does not agree with the decisions that were made and is looking into events. That appeared to be the final straw for tournament director Feliciano Lopez, who had hit back at criticism over the cakes on Twitter. In their speeches after the women's final, Sabalenka made a joke about the cakes while runner-up Iga Swiatek made clear her unhappiness with being made to play after midnight. It is not the first time the Madrid Open, which is now owned by leading agency IMG, has been accused of favouring men over women, and Azarenka tweeted in response to pictures of two cakes: 'Couldn't be more accurate on the treatment.' They share a birthday on May 5 but, while Alcaraz was presented with a huge cake on court after his semi-final, Sabalenka, who was not playing that day, was given a much more modest confection backstage. There was also criticism of the revealing outfits worn by model ball girls on the main court as well as the way the tournament celebrated the birthday of male champion Carlos Alcaraz compared to women's singles winner Aryna Sabalenka. We made a mistake and this will not ever happen again.' 'We are working internally and with the WTA to review our protocols and are committed to improving our process moving forward. There was also controversy over the outfits ball girls wore at the tournament in Madrid
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