After her third-round opponent retired from their match at the 2025 China Open, Iga Świątek expressed frustration with the scheduling and the WTA rules that players must adhere to. Earlier this year, the Polish player had already criticized the hectic schedule of the tour.
What Did Iga Świątek Say About WTA Schedules?
At the 2025 China Open, Świątek is the top seed and began her campaign in the second round after receiving a first-round bye. She faced wild card Yuan Yue in her opening match, winning with a score of 6-0, 6-3. She then advanced to the fourth round after her third-round opponent, Camila Osorio, retired due to an abdominal injury, with the match score at 6-0, 0-0.
During the post-match press conference, the former World No. 1 noted that the season is “long,” which leads to player “fatigue.” She indicated that in the future, she might need to skip some mandatory tournaments for the sake of her health.
“Obviously the season is long. The second part of it I think people are more fatigued. Unfortunately I think the Asian Swing is the hardest part because you feel like the season is going to finish soon, but you still need to push. For me, I don’t know yet how my career is going to look like in couple years,” Świątek said.
Maybe I will have to choose some tournaments and skip them, even though they are mandatory. WTA with all these mandatory rules, they made this pretty crazy for us,” she added.
Świątek mentioned that players often find it challenging to participate in all mandatory tournaments, and they sometimes feel compelled to disregard the rules and skip events to maintain their health.
“I don’t think any top player will actually be able to achieve this, for example, playing the six 500 tournaments. It’s just impossible to squeeze it in the schedule. I think we have to be smart about it, not really unfortunately care about the rules and just think what’s healthy for us. Yeah, it’s tough,” she continued.
The six-time Grand Slam champion expressed that while she is participating in all the mandatory tournaments this year, she is also focusing on her health and recovery, which she attributes to the support of her team.
“The only thing I can do now, when I decided I’m going to play all these mandatory tournaments, is to just take care of my body, take care of the recovery. I have a good team around me also that is helping me with that. I’m experienced enough to know kind of what to do. So physically I am good. But yeah, there are a lot of injuries. I think it is because the season is too long and too intense,” Świątek added.
Iga Świątek’s Previous Comments on WTA’s Scheduling
This is not the first time the Pole has spoken out against the WTA’s scheduling, having done so on numerous occasions. One recent instance came after her previous win at the China Open when she said:
“Well, when I look at the schedule, I think we’re playing too much, and the schedule is crazy. That’s the first thing probably that will pop to my head. That’s why I try to split the year for swings and just focus on the next swing.”
Świątek will next lock horns with 16th seed Emma Navarro in the fourth round of the China Open. The American also booked her place in the Round of 16 after her opponent Lois Boisson retired during their third-round match.
Świątek and Navarro have had two prior encounters, with the Pole coming out on top on each occasion. Whoever out of the two comes out on top, will take on either fifth seed Jessica Pegula or 23rd seed Marta Kostyuk in the China Open quarterfinals.
