“Are you guys tryna make players die?” Daria Kasatkina terribly upset after unfair schedule pushes her in Doha right after her Abu Dhabi stint

Daria Kasatkina is set to play her first round match of Doha Open a day after playing the Abu Dhabi Open final.

“Are you guys tryna make players die?” Daria Kasatkina terribly upset after unfair schedule pushes her in Doha right after her Abu Dhabi stint

Daria Kasatkina (Source: Open Source/X)

Russian tennis player Daria Kasatkina made it to the final of a tournament after a long time at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Open. Although she ultimately lost to Elena Rybakina in the final of the tournament, the Russian definitely had a positive performance in the tournament. However, after making it to the final, she was not very happy with the scheduling of the WTA tournaments. 

Daria Kasatkina’s final against Elena Rybakina started at 5 p.m. in Abu Dhabi on Sunday and she is supposed to take on Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the first round of the Doha Open on Monday, which makes her schedule extremely hectic. She did not shy away from taking a dig at the WTA for this unrealistic situation. 

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It’s terrible. I have a question I dunno to who, WTA or tournaments, are you guys trying to make players die, or to get injured often? 
Daria Kasatkina via Reem Abulleil

Kasatkina acknowledged the fact that the Doha Open has to start on Sunday before failing because it has to end next Saturday, but these things must be taken care of in the future as they take an immense toll on the players. She also suggested performance byes in the second tournament if a situation like this arises in the future. 

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I don’t know how you can schedule the finals of the tournament on Sunday, wanting to finish the next tournament on Saturday, so you start it on Sunday, and like this, the player, if like me, you don’t have a bye in Doha, I have to play on Monday. And I play finals tomorrow at 5pm. We don’t have yet this technology that I can just do like this (snaps her fingers) and be in Doha in five seconds. 

Daria Kasatkina loses to Elena Rybakina in the final of the 2024 Abu Dhabi Open 

Elena Rybakina has won her second trophy of the 2024 tour by defeating Daria Kasatkina in the final of the Abu Dhabi Open. She did not seem to struggle against the Russian at all and defeated her 6-1, 6-4 in straight sets.

This was the Kazakh’s third tournament of the season. Her performance in the Australian Open was not that great, as she got eliminated by Anna Blinkova in the second round itself. However, she has successfully redeemed herself now. 

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Daria Kasatkina (Image via Imago)

Rybakina has received a direct entry into the second round of the Doha Open. Kasatkina, on the other hand, will have to win her match against her fellow countrywoman, Pavlyuchenkova, to proceed to the second round. Her victory against Beatriz Haddad Maia in the semifinal of the Abu Dhabi Open showed that Kasatkina is slowly getting back in form and gave hope for improvement. 

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