“Not all of them have that privilege,” Iga Swiatek criticises the WTA yet again over poor scheduling in the Qatar Open
Iga Swiatek voices the concern of her colleagues about the scheduling of the WTA that saw higher ranked players forced to play in qualifiers.
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Iga Swiatek
Iga Swiatek is once again using her voice as the World No. 1 in leading the Tour. The Pole returned to action for the first time since her 2023 Australian Open exit at the 2023 Qatar Open. She is the defending champion and has made her way to the semi-finals once again.
It was in Qatar in the 2022 season when Swiatek started her 37-match unbeaten streak that ended in Wimbledon. As she looks to retain her title, she voiced the player’s concern once again over scheduling. She had been vocal about it during the last season as well and has made early inroads this year too.
With multiple events scheduled throughout the month, this week’s Qatar Open remains the only event that’s not running simultaneously alongside other Tour events. As a result, players like Karolina Pliskova were forced to play in the qualifiers to make the main-draw. Swiatek complained about the scheduling and spoke like a true Tour leader while voicing her opinion.
“I don’t know what caused this situation, there were great players who had to go through the qualies and others who didn’t enter directly, it’s a rather unfortunate situation. It would be nice if there was more variety, I’m in a position where I know I’ll be in every tournament, but not all of them have that privilege.
“I feel sorry for those most affected because they could also be playing this week, earning points and money, but they can’t. It is enough to see how our first round has been to understand the toughness of the draw, each game is very difficult, but I would like there to be more variety, to have another tournament in a different city,” said Swiatek speaking with the press in Qatar.
Iga Swiatek into the semi-finals in Qatar
Seeded first in the tournament, Iga Swiatek received a bye in the first round. She started her campaign in the second round against Danielle Collins. Avenging her semi-final loss in the 2022 Australian Open, Swiatek demolished the American. Wrapping the match in 53 minutes, Swiatek rolled past Collins 6-0, 6-1.
The three-time Grand Slam singles title winner won nine straight games before Collins won her first. It was however the only one as Swiatek served out a bagel and a breadstick. She was scheduled to play the in-form Belinda Bencic but the Swiss withdrew before their quarter-final clash.
Swiatek now awaits the winner of the clash between Coco Gauff and Veronika Kudermetova to know her semi-final opponent. With a big buffer of more than 4000 points, Swiatek will look to hold the maximum number of points in order to extend her stay at the top which is guaranteed for a minimum of 52 consecutive weeks at least.
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