Iga Swiatek complains about WTA’s mandatory rules: ‘They’ve made it pretty crazy for us’

The day had started with Camila Osorio retiring mid-way after dropping the first set to Swiatek. Over in the men’s section, Lois Boisson, Zheng Qinwen, Lorenzo Musetti and Jakub Mensik were unable to complete their matches in Beijing.

“I think people are more fatigued,” she pointed out before adding how the tennis season is too long and too intense.

As a report by Reuters noted, the men’s and women’s circuits have faced criticism due to their 11-month seasons.

“Unfortunately, the Asian Swing is the hardest part because you feel like the season is going to finish soon, but you still need to push. I don’t know yet how my career is going to look like in a couple years. The WTA, with these mandatory rules, they made this pretty crazy for us,” Swiatek said.
The WTA rules she was criticising made it obligatory for top players to compete in all four Grand Slams, 10 WTA 1000 tournaments and six WTA 500 events. The punishment for missing them ranging from rankings points penalties to fines.

“I don’t think any top player will actually be able to achieve this … It’s impossible to squeeze it in the schedule,” said Swiatek, who has committed to playing in all the mandatory events this year. “We have to be smart about it, not really unfortunately care about the rules and think what’s healthy for us. It’s tough.”

Even as one of the top players complained about the mandatory rules, the WTA told Reuters that their top priority was “athlete welfare”. WTA said it was paying heed to player feedback through the players’ council and their representatives on the WTA board, to improve the circuit structure in 2024 and boost compensation.

“These enhancements have been delivered without requiring players to commit to more events than the average number per season over the previous decade,” the WTA said.

“The new structure provides more predictability as to which events top 30 players compete in and more playing opportunities for aspiring players, while underpinning the commitment to a $400 million increase in compensation over the next 10 years.”

The WTA added it would continue to keep its tour structure under review based on feedback, while recognising that a review of the calendar requires coordination across governing bodies including the ATP, ITF and Grand Slams.

The Professional Tennis Players’ Association filed a lawsuit against the sport’s governing bodies in March, with the advocacy group describing the situation as “unsustainable”.
The WTA has said the lawsuit, which also accused the governing organisations of anti-competitive practices and a disregard for player welfare, was “baseless” and defended its record of growing the women’s game.

(With inputs from Reuters)