Elena Rybakina declared that players are being “forced to compete in too many tournaments” as she criticised the schedule at the Madrid and Rome events.
The 2022 Wimbledon champion believes tennis is going in the “wrong direction” and revealed she “wasted a lot of energy trying to change things” last year.
Starting in 2023, both the WTA and ATP editions of the Madrid Open and the Italian Open were extended to become 12-day events held over two weeks.
Players who make a deep run in Madrid have little time to recover from the lengthy tournament before another prolonged event gets underway in Rome the following week.
This year’s women’s and men’s Madrid Open finals will be held on May 4 and 5 respectively, with the Italian Open beginning just a few days later on May 8.
Rybakina will face Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals of the WTA 1000 event on Thursday after her three-set quarter-final comeback win over Yulia Putintseva on Wednesday. The world No 4 saved two match points and recovered from a 5-2 deficit in the third set.
After overcoming Putintseva in Madrid, Rybakina questioned the decision to have two 12-day tournaments in the lead-up to the French Open.
“It may make sense for Indian Wells and Miami to have that duration, but to do it in these two events, shortly before Roland Garros… with the new rules there is no room to choose, we are forced to compete in too many tournaments,” argued the Kazakh in her press conference.
“We are going in wrong direction, there is a lot to improve on the circuit and last year I wasted a lot of energy trying to change things. I realised that it is very difficult to do so, so I will just assume the rules and do the best I can.”
The 24-year-old also raised the issue of scheduling during an interview with Tennis Channel earlier in the event.
“For us, it’s very difficult schedule, that’s for sure. Of course, people want to see quality matches. It’s not easy to perform when you are travelling so much and you have week by week tournaments,” said Rybakina.
“I think the most important thing to have this consistency so the players don’t get injured, that’s the most important, so I will say just to make it a little bit easier on us just health-wise.”
