Maria Sakkari and Caroline Garcia come in defense of the WTA management rebutting the accusations of Elena Rybakina and her coach on last-minute changes on the performance byes

Rybakina lashed out at the WTA for 'changing the rule at the last moment'.

Maria Sakkari and Caroline Garcia come in defense of the WTA management rebutting the accusations of Elena Rybakina and her coach on last-minute changes on the performance byes

Maria Sakkari, Elena Rybakina and Caroline Garcia

WTA’s trial of performance-bye at the Pan-Pacific Open in Tokyo caused controversy as Elena Rybakina, who came to Tokyo expecting to be a top-4 seed, wasn’t given a first-round bye for the tournament. Traditionally, the WTA grants a first-round bye to the top-4 seed for the tournament. But, the trialing of performance-byes gave Maria Sakkari and Caroline Garcia, who are both ranked below Rybakina, a top-4 seeding ahead of the Kazakh.

As a result, Rybakina withdrew from the tournament, accusing WTA of “changing the rules last moment.” Garcia and Sakkari earned the top-4 seeding on the back of their semi-final appearance at last week’s Guadalajara Open. Second seed Sakkari defeated 3rd seeded Garcia 6-3 6-0 to make consecutive final appearances at the tournament. Sakkari defeated American Pro Caroline Dolehide’s final on Saturday to win her first WTA 1000 crown and 2nd title overall to end a four-year title drought.

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Speaking to the press in Tokyo, The 28-year-old Greek defended the WTA on the byes issue saying that it wasn’t a new rule and that it had been around for 14 years. Sakkari added that the rule had been temporarily removed due to the pandemic. Rebutting Rybakina’s accusations, Sakkari added, “However, in the past, this performance bye was also used in Beijing. We have already been aware of the fact that there will be a performance bye since the tournament will be held from Mexico to Tokyo for about 5 months. I was informed that performance byes are also applied when traveling from Tokyo to Beijing.”

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Sakkari arrived at the Guadalajara Open on the back of a disappointing 1st Round exit at the US Open and a quarter-final exit in San Diego, where she lost in a third-set tiebreak to Emma Navarro. The title win in Mexico couldn’t have come at a better time for the Greek, as in her last seven Grand Slam appearances she has failed to go past the third round.

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Caroline Garcia defends the trial of performance-byes at the Pan Pacific Open

World No.10 Caroline Garcia defended the performance-bye trial saying that it helps players who have short turnaround time between consecutive tournaments. “It’s a really long journey from Mexico to Japan, and considering the time difference, you’ll lose two days. I think this rule is necessary because we have to continue playing under such circumstances. In the past, it was also adopted in Beijing and Wuhan,” she told the press in Tokyo.

Caroline Garcia.

The Frenchwoman also rubbished Rybakina’s accusation of WTA “changing the rules last moment” saying that they were informed well in advance. “We knew in advance that there would be a performance bye at this tournament. We were informed of this, and I think this is important in order to maintain our rhythm,” she explained.

Next up, Caroline Garcia, 5th seed, faces the 4th seed Maria Sakkari in the quarter-finals of the Pan-Pacific Open, in Tokyo. Garcia leads the head-to-head battle against Sakkari 3-2, although the Greek has won the last two encounters.

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