Andy Roddick Gives Honest Take on If Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek Should be Docked Points for Skipping Dubai

Iga Swiatek will lose 250 points for withdrawing from the Dubai Tennis Championships.

Andy Roddick Gives Honest Take on If Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek Should be Docked Points for Skipping Dubai

Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek and Andy Roddick (via X/The Tennis Letter/ESPN)

In Short
  • Andy Roddick criticized the Dubai Tennis Championships director for suggesting point deductions for players who withdraw.
  • Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek withdrew from the tournament, impacting its competitiveness and sponsor appeal.
  • Both players plan to return at the Indian Wells Open, aiming to compete at full capacity after their withdrawals.

Andy Roddick has slammed the Dubai Tennis Championships director, Salah Tahlak, for suggesting that Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek be docked ranking points for withdrawing from the WTA 1000 event instead of just handing them fines. Roddick insists that players are like independent contractors in the sport.

Sabalenka has not played a tour-level match since losing to Elena Rybakina in the Australian Open final last month, while Swiatek withdrew from the Dubai Tennis Championships just two days before the tournament began due to a scheduling change. The pair’s absence makes Rybakina and Coco Gauff the two top seeds.

However, several players have followed the footsteps of Sabalenka and Swiatek by pulling out of the tournament. As things stand, 24 of the 43 players who were in the entry list of the tournament have either withdrawn or retired from their matches. This has undoubtedly improved the event’s competitiveness.

Also, tournaments like the Dubai Tennis Championships have several sponsors who were hoping that big players in the circuit would attract fans from all over the world. But with players skipping the tournament, it makes it less attractive, and in the future, such sponsors are going to be concerned about the repetition of such situations.

That led Tahlak to suggest harsher sanctions for players who opted to skip the tournament. During a conversation on the Served podcast, Andy Roddick noted that deducting points from players makes no sense. The Grand Slam champion added that players, unfortunately, have a full schedule, which makes it likely for them to pull out of events:

My favourite is [when people say] when it’s convenient, that they are independent contractors, we couldn’t possibly do salaries. So they are independent contractors, but if they choose not to play this week, we are going to deduct them ranking points? Make it make sense to me. It’s unfortunate but we play a full schedule. You’re the one who pushes for the designation of a 1000 in that region in February. It’s a terrible slot.

Rybakina and Gauff are already into the round of 16 in Dubai after winning their opening matches. The pair is projected to face each other in the semi-finals of the tournament. Meanwhile, other competitors, Jessica Pegula and Mirra Andreeva, are already into the quarter-finals of the WTA 1000 event.

Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka are expected to play the Indian Wells Open

Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka’s withdrawal means that both players are aiming to come back to the court at their full physical and mental level. Their next tournament is set to be the Indian Wells Open, a WTA 1000 event which will kick off on March 4 and end on the 15th, a two-week WTA tournament.

Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek (3)
Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek (Image via X/News Aryna Sabalenka, Jimmie48 Photography)

Mirra Andreeva is the defending champion of the tournament, having defeated Sabalenka in the final last year. The victory marked Andreeva’s second consecutive WTA 1000 title, after she had previously claimed the 2025 Dubai Tennis Championships. On the other hand, Swiatek reached the semi-finals before losing to Andreeva in three sets.

Swiatek will defend 390 WTA rankings points at the 2026 Indian Wells, while Sabalenka has 650 points to protect. The former will lose 215 points for not competing in the Dubai Tennis Championships, having reached the quarter-finals of the tournament last year when she lost to Andreeva in straight sets.

The Polish star is yet to win her first title of the season, reaching the quarter-finals of the Australian Open and Doha Open. In Doha, she was the favorite to win the tournament as the top seed but she fell to Maria Sakkari in three sets. Karolina Muchova defeated Sakkari in the semi-finals before beating Victoria Mboko in the championship match.

Also Read: Paula Badosa Makes ‘Endless Nightmare’ Confession While Calling Out Social Media Hate After Dubai Retirement