Iga Swiatek recently faced backlash from former World No. 1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov for raising complaints about the demanding WTA tour schedule. However, fans rallied behind the World No. 1, hitting out at Kafelnikov for his controversial remarks about how much Swiatek deserves to be paid.
Swiatek kept her hopes of clinching the 2024 Cincinnati Open title alive with a narrow 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 win over Mirra Andreeva. However, the post-match discourse revolved around the Pole airing her grievances with the “exhausting” tour schedule.
Speaking to Sky Sports, the five-time Grand Slam champion suggested that the increasing number of tournaments made tennis “less fun” for the players.
“It’s not gonna end well as it’s just it makes tennis less fun for us. Let’s just say, I mean, obviously, I love playing all these places but it’s pretty exhausting. I think most of the players could tell you that,” Iga Swiatek said.
While acknowledging that she might receive “hate” for her perspective, the 23-year-old emphasized that players deserved more rest.
“We deserve to rest a little bit more obviously maybe. People are going to hate me for that because it sounded weird that I’m asking for rest. It doesn’t make sense, but the truth is that you have got to keep up with the Tour,” she added.
Iga Swiatek’s comments were met with scorn by Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who argued that nobody was “pushing” the Pole into competing. The two-time Grand Slam champion also lambasted the 23-year-old for complaining and claimed that she “deserved to get paid a lot less.”
“Is someone pushing you to play ??? All you fricking do is complain!! I’ll tell you what you deserve ! You deserve to get paid a lot less than you do now!! How about that??✌️😉,” he posted on X.
