Iga Swiatek has come under fire from former world no. 1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov for her remarks about the tennis schedule.
This year, Swiatek has won five WTA titles, the most on Tour, including the June 2024 French Open. Earlier this month, she participated in her second Olympics and brought home a bronze medal for her nation.
However, Swiatek was the main topic of conversation after defeating Mirra Andreeva in the quarterfinals a few days earlier. She expressed her opinion that the tennis schedule is demanding and cautioned that it would negatively impact the players’ mental and physical health.
She argued in an interview that tennis has become less enjoyable due to the overabundance of tournaments. She urged the tennis governing bodies to pay attention to player complaints and take appropriate action in the future.
She said: “So what can I say? I’ve been an advocate, saying that, well, we shouldn’t be pushing and pushing for us to play more. Obviously, it’s not our decision, but for sure, I think we have too many tournaments in the season. It’s not gonna end well, as it’s just making tennis less fun for us. Let’s just say, I mean, obviously, I love playing all these places but it’s pretty exhausting.”
In response to Swiatek’s statements, former ATP player Kafelnikov voiced on X, saying that the 23-year-old was not being forced to play. Instead, the five-time Grand Slam champion received harsh criticism from the Russian player for his complaints.
Kafelnikov tweeted: “Is someone pushing you to play? All you fricking do is complain!! I’ll tell you what you deserve! You deserve to get paid a lot less than you do now!! How about that??”
Iga Swiatek brutally criticised and told she ‘deserves to get paid a lot less’ in rant by former world No 1.#Tennis #WTA #CincyTennis #Swiatek https://t.co/RImNf7XkwD
— Tennis365 (@tennis365com) August 18, 2024
Iga Swiatek in 2024
LWWWWLWWWW Now the world no.1, Swiatek played her last match on the 18th of August when she lost to world no.3 Aryna Sabalenka 6-3 6-3 in the semifinal in Cincinnati (draw).
Until now, during this year the Pole has a composed 55-7 win-loss record. Swiatek has won 6 titles in 2024 in Australia, Doha, Indian Wells, Madrid, Rome and French Open.
Iga Swiatek |
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