Iga Swiatek said the tennis calendar is too tightly packed and forces players to compete in too many tournaments, just for the sake of ranking points.
Speaking to reporters in advance of Wimbledon, where she is the No. 8 seed, the former World No. 1 said too much is being asked of players.
Swiatek opened up on the topic after being asked about mental health.
“The scheduling is super intense. It’s too intense. There’s no point for us to play over 20 tournaments in a year,” said Swiatek, 24, of Poland. “Sometimes we need to sacrifice playing for your country because we need to keep up with playing these WTA 500s, for example, because we’re going to get a zero in the ranking.”
Swiatek is not the only player on the WTA Tour to have been vocal about mental health. Grand Slam winners Naomi Osaka and Bianca Andreescu are among the women who have taken breaks for mental health purposes.
The tennis season runs almost a full calendar year and ranking points are earned based on competition and both performance in tournaments.
“I think these kind of obligations and the rules about mandatory tournaments just put pressure on us,” said Swiatek, a five-time Grand Slam champ.
“I think people would still watch tennis, maybe even more, if we played less tournaments. The quality would be better.”
Play in London at Wimbledon, the season’s fourth Grand Slam event, begins Monday. Swiatek played Saturday in Germany, losing in the final of the Bad Homburg Open to Jessica Pegula. Her appearance in the final, and the points earned, boosted Swiatek from a No. 8 world ranking to No. 4.
Swiatek opens play at Wimbledon on Tuesday against Polina Kudermetova, a 22-year-old Russian.
She has yet to win a tournament in 2025 and is not among the favorites at Wimbledon, where she has never advanced past the quarterfinal round. The London courts are grass, which is not Swiatek’s specialty.
–Field Level Media
