In response to Elena Rybakina’s criticism, Iga Swiatek said the WTA “should focus more on what’s healthy for players” even if she accepts that the WTA cannot control the weather during events.
Rybakina’s quarterfinal match against Daria Kasatkina in Montreal ended in the morning on Saturday because of schedule conflicts and rain delays. Rybakina’s semifinal match in Montreal was postponed on Saturday due to weather. She referred to the WTA leadership as “weak” after arriving at the court on Sunday and losing to Liudmila Samsonova.
Rybakina reported that after finishing at 3 am and going to bed at 5 am, she “picked up some injuries” and felt “destroyed.”
Swiatek put some light on this issue in WTA Cincinnati and said: “For sure, the weather is something we can’t really predict, but maybe we should focus more on what is healthy for players because we have to compete every week. The tour is so intense with travel and not actually having two days of calm and not working that it would be nice in the future to focus on players, especially next year when there will be more and more mandatory tournaments and longer tournaments.”
Swiatek in Cincinnati, ranking, and results in 2023
At the moment ranked no.1, Iga achieved a 52-8 record in 2023. Swiatek is playing in Cincinnati where she ousted the world no.34 Danielle Rose Collins 6-1 6-0 and the world no.24 Qinwen Zheng 3-6 6-1 6-1.
Iga Swiatek will fight against the world no.10 Marketa Vondrousova in the quarter on Friday at 11:00 am on CENTER COURT. Their actual record is 1-0 for Swiatek.
Iga clinched 4 titles in 2023 in Doha, Stuttgart, French Open and Warsaw. The Pole got to the final in Dubai (Dubai Duty Free Championships) and in Madrid (Mutua Madrid Open).
Iga won 15 titles in her career: 8 on hard courts and 7 on clay courts. (See the list of her titles)
Elena Rybakina in 2023
Currently ranked no.4, Elena played her last match on the 17th of August when she had to retire when playing against world no.43 Jasmine Paolini in the 3rd round and the scoreline was 4-6 5-2 .
Currently, during this year Rybakina achieved a compiled 41-11 win-loss record. The Kazakhstani clinched 2 titles in 2023 in Indian Wells and Rome. Elena got to the final at the Australian Open and Miami.
Rybakina is scheduled to play next at the U.S. Open (U.S. Open). She will start from the main draw that will commence on the 28th of August.
Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina squared off 4 times. Their record is 3-1 for Rybakina. The last time they squared off, Elena Rybakina won 2-6 7-6(3) 2-2 ret. in the quarter in Rome (Internazionali BNL d’Italia) on the 17th of May 2023.
Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina |
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