Iga Swiatek Urges ITF and WTA to ‘Talk Together’ and Fix Schedule Problems Amid Complaints

Iga Swiatek is chasing her fourth title of the season at the China Open, which she missed last year because of her suspension.

Iga Swiatek Urges ITF and WTA to ‘Talk Together’ and Fix Schedule Problems Amid Complaints

Iga Swiatek (via X/The Tennis Letter)

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Iga Swiatek is all set to make her second appearance at the China Open. The first seed will lock horns with the winner of the first-round match between Yuan Yue and Yulia Putintseva.

Swiatek, the 2023 China Open champion, couldn’t feature in a single tournament on the Asian swing last year because she was serving her three-week provisional suspension. And this affected her rankings, missing the China Open and Wuhan Open (two mandatory WTA 1000 tournaments).

Before the China Open, Swiatek lifted her third title of the season at the Korea Open after coming from a set down to beat Ekaterina Alexandrova. Swiatek, in the pre-tournament press conference of the China Open, urged the WTA and the ITF to solve the scheduling problems amid growing complaints.

But I think it’s a good decision in terms of the scheduling because it’s just tough in November for a player who don’t play the WTA Finals to be kind of still in the season for more weeks and not be able to go on vacation because, I mean, okay maybe I shouldn’t speak about vacation, but let’s be honest, we don’t have time during the year. We need to do that for our bodies, as well.

At present, players have to feature in four Grand Slam events, 10 mandatory WTA 1000 events, and six WTA 500 events to avoid losing ranking points. Swiatek has so far this year played three WTA 500 tournaments in Stuttgart, Bad Homburg, and Seoul.

Other players will go on holiday, then practice a couple of days, play the Billie Jean King Cup Finals, which also is not perfect. Yeah, putting it right now, I think it’s better. But the question is if, actually, finally, maybe ITF and WTA talk together, and maybe these players don’t have to play these six mandatory 500s, or five, because they have one week less to do that.

Iga Swiatek added

Apart from the Korea Open, the other two titles that Swiatek has won this year were at Wimbledon and the Cincinnati Open. She also reached her first final of the season at the Bad Homburg Open, losing that match to Jessica Pegula.

Iga Swiatek enjoyed her run at the Korea Open

Iga Swiatek absolutely loved her time in Seoul and embraced the Korean culture, visiting some historical places as well as enjoying the local delicacies. One of the reasons why her campaign in Seoul meant so much to her is because of her family history.

Iga Swiatek
Iga Swiatek (Image via Punto de Break)

She grew up listening to her father, Tomasz Swiatek‘s stories about his time in Seoul, where he missed a medal in the 1988 Olympics. Swiatek has also expressed her wish to play the Korea Open next year as well.

Well, honestly, I wasn’t reflecting much because the day after, I knew I had a day off, so I basically spent, like, 12 hours walking around Seoul because I just really wanted to see the city. I heard a lot of good things about it. During the tournament, there wasn’t a lot of time. During my days off, it was always raining.

Iga Swiatek said at the press conference

The Korea Open was her sixth WTA 500 title. At the China Open, the six-time Grand Slam champion is aiming to win her 12th title in a WTA 1000 tournament. If the 24-year-old wins the Beijing title, she will have 9433 points and will be 1,577 points behind World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka, who lost 215 points as she withdrew from the China Open, where last year, she lost in the quarterfinals to eventual runner-up Karolina Muchova. Swiatek currently has 8443 in the live rankings.

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