Iga Swiatek’s reign at the top has finally ended. Earlier today, Aryna Sabalenka displaced the Polish star in the WTA rankings table and became the new World Number 1. While Swiatek has been away from the court since her quarterfinal defeat against Jessica Pegula at the US Open, Sabalenka has enjoyed a winning run of late. However, recent form isn’t the only factor behind Sabalenka’s rise to the top as a controversial WTA rule came to light.
While there are as many as 10 mandatory WTA 1000 tournaments, the women’s body also requires players to play in the 6 mandatory WTA 500 tournaments. The move has been widely debated, with players calling out the grueling schedule which takes a toll on their physical and mental health. There are as many as 17 WTA 500 tournaments played in a season and players have to compulsorily play in six of them.
Sabalenka has already played in four WTA 500 tournaments this season, Brisbane International, Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Ecotrans Ladies Open, and the Citi Open. Swiatek has played in just 2 WTA 500 tournaments, the United Cup and the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. As a result, Swiatek has lost out on crucial WTA ranking points, which has affected her downgrade from the top spot to the second position.
Further, a tennis insider also raised objections over the mandatory WTA 500 rule, saying, “The problem is not that Iga Świątek is falling to second place in the ranking, because that was predictable, Sabalenka deserved to be in the lead. The problem is the controversial rules of the WTA ranking construction. 6 mandatory WTA 500 events (XD) , the requirement to play every now and then for the best.”
Many players, including Iga Swiatek, have strongly criticized the WTA for the scheduling mess. Earlier today, it was Sloane Stephens who made her feelings felt on this matter.
Sloane Stephens joins Iga Swiatek in voicing her concerns
With a growing number of mandatory tournaments, there is hardly any breathing space left for the players. This eventually results in their physical and mental health taking a toll and not many players are able to escape injury-free from the grueling season. As a result, Sloane Stephens became the latest player to voice her concerns.
She said, “Like you’re just there because like if you don’t want to sign or you don’t you’re supposed to be or you enter the tournament or you don’t have any more withdrawals like you’re just like I’m present but I’m not like mentally and not here, but I feel like that’s just kind of one of the bad things about the tour. Both tours ATP and WTA, is that you’re kind of forced to play, even when you’re probably not in the best mental capacity, you’re probably not the best physical shape, or you might be injured or whatever it is, and you just arrive because that’s what you’re supposed to do.”
Earlier, Swiatek also expressed concerns, saying that playing more tournaments will make tennis less interesting. It is high time that the tennis bodies take into account the players’ health and ease out the tennis season. Do you feel that the WTA should scrap the mandatory rule in the WTA 500 events? Let us know your views in the comments below.
