Iga Swiatek spoke out against the “crazy” WTA schedule as she warned to skip mandatory health.
According to Sports Star, the world No. 2 on Monday, September 29, said that she might skip some upcoming mandatory events to prioritise her health after multiple top players suffered injuries at the China Open.
The six-time Grand Slam champion advanced into the round of the last 16 in Beijing after her opponent Camila Osorio retired in the second set following injury.
After the match the Polish player said, “I don’t know yet how my career is going to look like in a couple of years. Maybe I will have to choose some tournaments and skip them, even though they are mandatory. It’s just impossible to squeeze it into the schedule.”
“I think we have to be smart about it, not really, unfortunately, care about the rules and just think what’s healthy for us. The WTA, with these mandatory rules, made this pretty crazy for us. We have to be smart about it, not really unfortunately care about the rules, and think what's healthy for us. It's tough,” she added.
Before the Colombian, multiple players have been forced to retire from their matches at the China Open due to injuries. On Monday, France's Lois Boisson retired from her match, adding to the list of players who had to withdraw mid-match the previous day.
Jakub Mensik also pulled out of his quarterfinal match in the men's ATP 500 event in Beijing due to injury.
The Professional Tennis Players' Association in March sued tennis governing bodies over tight schedules that are not safe for players in response, the WTA called the lawsuit baseless.
