Iga Swiatek has hit out at the WTA for being hypocritical with their 2024 schedule. The world No 1 wasn’t happy with the number of tournaments being extended and the addition of another 1000-point event, claiming the WTA was going against their promotion of mental health and a work-life balance. In a scathing review, Swiatek claimed the women’s tour should be making decisions in line with the values they tried to push.
Swiatek has often been outspoken on issues she doesn’t agree with in tennis, previously joining the debate over problems with tennis balls. The four-time Grand Slam champion has now been left frustrated with changes to the WTA calendar for 2024.
Both Doha and Dubai will now be WTA 1000 events while several big tournaments continue to increase their length to 12 days, including the China Open in Beijing. With the Olympics also taking place between Wimbledon and the North American hard-court swing, players will be forced to switch between all three surfaces in the space of a month.
And Swiatek believes that the tour is contradicting their principles of promoting mental health by implementing a schedule that is even more demanding on their athletes. “The calendar is changing towards even more duties, even greater expenditure of energy that we will have to devote while participating in tournaments, because the tournaments are also extended,” the 22-year-old told Eurosport.
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Swiatek bluntly explained that she would choose to make decisions that were more in line with the WTA’s values if she were in their shoes, adding: “It is simply not conducive to what the WTA promotes in other aspects, i.e. mental health, life balance in any way, physical health.
“I would make decisions that would be more conducive to what they promote and support.” It’s not the first time that the Pole has voiced her frustration with a WTA issue this year. At the season-ending championships in Cancun, Swiatek noticed that there was a lack of spectators after the tour decided its host venue with just a few weeks notice.
Swiatek, who went on to win the tournament, said: “Obviously, they decided late that we were going to play here. It’s clear that marketing should be better. It’s a shame we don’t have a full stadium and we don’t really feel like we’re at the tennis party all week. But it’s like that.”
At the time, the WTA issued a statement saying: “We’re pleased to host the WTA Finals in Cancun for the first time and worked hard to construct a stadium where the world’s top eight women’s tennis players and doubles teams compete head-to-head.
“The team has worked diligently on an expedited timeline amid weather challenges to ensure the stadium and court meet our strict performance standards. We look forward to this week ahead and playing in front of the energetic fans here in Cancun.”
But Swiatek’s coach also had a damning verdict of the year-end tournament. “In terms of tourism, I see great potential of this place. And maybe one day I will go to Mexico to learn more about the history of this civilisation, “Tomasz Wiktorowski told Rzeczpospolita. “However, I hope that I will never have to fly there again for business and tennis purposes. It was an embarrassment in terms of the decision-making process and organisation of the tournament.”
