On the WTA Tour, top players must play in all four Grand Slam tournaments, 10 WTA 1000 events, and six WTA 500 tournaments.
If they do not play in these events, they may be punished by the WTA.
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka has said she will skip some tournaments because the tennis schedule is too busy. She said playing in so many events would be very tiring, both mentally and physically.
“The season is definitely insane, and that’s not good for all of us, as you see so many players getting injured.
“The rules are quite tricky with mandatory events, but I’m still skipping a couple events in order to protect my body, because I struggled a lot last season.
“Even though the results were really consistent, some of the tournaments I had been playing completely sick or I’ve been really exhausted from overplaying. This season we will try to manage it a little bit better, even though they are going to fine me by the end of the season.
“But it’s tricky to do that. You cannot skip 1000 events. It’s really tricky, and I think that’s insane what they do. I think they just follow their interests, but they’re not focusing on protecting all of us.”
The 27-year-old is not the only top player to complain about the busy tennis calendar. Three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur took a long break from competitive tennis last year to focus on her mental health and wellbeing.
She said she was struggling with depression and felt her body was “screaming for help” after playing nonstop for many years. Jabeur said the tennis calendar is too busy and gives players very little time to rest.
“I want to control my own schedule.
“I don’t want the tour to decide everything for me.”
Novak Djokovic has also criticised the schedule, saying the tennis calendar is “brutal” and leads to burnout. Young stars like Carlos Alcaraz and Coco Gauff have spoken about how hard it is on the body to play so many matches with little rest.
