Iga Swiatek opened her 2024 US Open campaign with a win over Kamila Rakhimova. She fended off a comeback bid from the Russian, coming through in two tight sets 6-4, 7-6(6).
The Pole, who recently voiced displeasure over the hectic Tour schedule, doubled down on her criticism during her post-match press conference.
Dubbing the schedule “crazy”, Swiatek said players are expected to go straight from one tournament to another and have very little say since the Tour has a few mandatory tournaments that they cannot skip.
“I think players are aware that this is crazy what’s going on, and the schedule is really tough… I spoke about it in Cincinnati, for example, and there are people saying that, oh, I don’t have to play so many tournaments,” Iga Swiatek said. “But truth, like the fact is that we have so many mandatory tournaments”
“We literally need to, you know, show up and we don’t have time to, like, work on stuff or, like believe peacefully, because from one tournament we’re going straight to another,” she added.
Swiatek, who was playing at the Cincinnati Open just 10 days ago, batted for change, saying it would also make the sport more enjoyable for fans as they wouldn’t have to endure watching their favorite players get injured as often.
The World No. 1, however, said that the sport was not going in the right direction before expressing hope that the players could make a meaningful impact in the conversation about scheduling.
“I think it needs to be changed, because also, I think it’s going to be better for fans. Because they’re not going to see their favorite players, like, pull out or getting injured so much, I think,” the World No. 1 said.
“These decisions about mandatory tournaments were shown to us, like, after. So we spoke to WTA about it that we want to at least be in the loop, you know. But it would be nice for us to have some impact, because I don’t think our sport is going in the right direction because of that,” she added.
“I want to improve some things and adjust a little bit” – Iga Swiatek after tight 1r win at the US Open
Iga Swiatek also reflected on her opening-round performance, saying she was happy to have come through given that first-round encounters at Grand Slam tournaments can be tricky.
The Pole, however, conceded that there were a few things that she was looking to improve, including bringing down the number of errors that she was making on the court.
“Well, I’m happy that I’m through to the second round, because, you know, first rounds are never easy,” Iga Swiatek said. ” But for sure I want to improve some things and adjust a little bit so I’ll make less mistakes. But I’m happy that I’m in the second round.”
Swiatek will take on Ena Shibahara in her second-round encounter. The Japanese, playing in her first singles main draw, beat Daria Saville in a three-set battle to progress further.
