Rybakina talked about the downsides of playing back-to-back tournaments.
Elena Rybakina (Image via Imago)
Kazakhstan tennis star Elena Rybakina is tired of fighting with the authorities about the reckless scheduling of tournaments on the WTA tour. The World No. 4 says that it feels like wasting her energy on something that is not going to change. Rybakina also highlighted the issues around the scheduling as she sent a cry for help.
She talked about big tournaments being scheduled back-to-back and also talked about the impact it is having on players. Rybakina says that as all the tournaments are necessary to play, it becomes difficult for the players to pick and choose. She also pointed out that the current setup does not allow players to even do that.
Rybakina also claimed that if the quality of tennis is to be maintained and if the careers of players are not to be shortened, then there must be some rule changes that need to be enforced.
With the new rule of change, we have a lot of mandatory stuff where you cannot really choose and pick what you want to play, because, I mean, at some point it's fair enough that people choose what they want to play or not, because if the tour is good for everyone...If you want to see good quality of tennis, if you want to see players play long their career, not finish early maybe as Ash did, I think, in my opinion, it would be nice to change something.Elena Rybakina said about the problems with the current scheduling.
Elena Rybakina on having so many 2 week mandatory events scheduled back to back, ‘If you want to see good quality tennis & players have long careers, it would be nice to change something’
“You mentioned that this tournament is very long and that another mandatory event is… pic.twitter.com/bP833WoM0r
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) May 1, 2024
Andrey Rublev echoes Elena Rybaina’s thoughts about scheduling
Not only Elena Rybakina but Andrey Rublev also feels there are issues to be addressed around the current schedule. The Russian tennis star said that there is less time for the players to rest with back-to-back tournaments scheduled. He said that players get less time to spend with their families than before.
 100vw, 1200px” data-lazy-src=”https://firstsportz.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Andrey-Rublev-4.jpg” /><figcaption>Andrey Rublev(Via Imago)</figcaption></figure>
<p>He also talked about what the decision-makers are thinking. Rublev admitted that it is tough for them to come up with one solution that can please all. However, he also said that the interests of all the stakeholders must be taken into consideration before reaching a conclusion.</p>
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<pre>Now looks like we are having more rest between matches but it takes us four weeks. And of course mentally it's a bit tougher, and then you don't spend that much time home because you spend less time and you have less time to recover...I guess it should be more about how all the players are thinking, the average of the players, and then also what’s better for spectators.</pre>
<p><cite>Andrey Rublev said.</cite></p></blockquote>
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Rublev says the new Masters format means players have less time to recover & it’s tough mentally ‘Sometimes they’re taking decisions without asking anyone’
“Zverev yesterday said that this new format of Masters 1000 is good for players from the 50th position ranking to 100, but… pic.twitter.com/syawRleEl8
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) May 1, 2024
Notably, many players including top names like Iga Swiatek have raised their objections about the reckless scheduling. Meanwhile, the authorities have stayed quiet on the matter. It is to be seen if there will be any change going forward or if the players will continue to suffer due to the problematic schedule.
