Iga Swiatek kept up her criticism of tennis’ hectic schedule ahead of her campaign at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships. The Pole suggested that the pressure on players to participate in mandatory events for the sake of their ranking leads to an overall decrease in the quality of tennis. She also claimed that at times, these events force players to skip tournaments where they have the opportunity to represent their countries.
Speaking at her pre-tournament press conference at Wimbledon, the former No. 1 and five-time Major champion said:
“I think the scheduling is super intense. It’s too intense. There’s no point for us to play, like, over 20 tournaments in a year. Sometimes we need to sacrifice playing for your country because we need to keep up with playing these WTA 500s, for example, because we’re going to get a zero in the ranking. I think these kind of obligations and the rules about mandatory tournaments just put pressure on us.”
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Iga Swiatek went on to suggest that reducing the amount of tournaments could lead to an improvement in the quality of tennis that players can produce.
"For me the scheduling is pretty intense. I think people would still watch tennis, maybe even more, if we played less tournaments, but the quality, for example, would be better or we would be more consistent because of that," the Pole added.
This isn't the first time that Swiatek has raised concerns with regards to the tennis schedule, which is widely regarded as one of the most demanding in all of professional sports.
"We're constantly moving between continents" - Iga Swiatek after shocking loss to teenage prodigy at Dubai Tennis Championships 2025
At the 2025 Dubai Tennis Championships, Iga Swiatek reached the quarterfinals. However, her clash against Russian teenage sensation Mirra Andreeva in the last eight of the tournament didn't go well, as the youngster registered a dominant 6-3, 6-3 win over the Pole.
Later, Swiatek blamed the tennis schedule for her subpar display against Andreeva, saying:
"It's not like it was some time ago, when players outside the top twenty were easily defeated. Now anyone can win these tournaments. It's been like that for a few years now. The calendar doesn't help. We're constantly moving between continents. We're changing surfaces and balls. It's not easy."
Swiatek's next competitive on-court outing will see her face Polina Kudermetova in the first round of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships on Tuesday, July 1. The Pole heads into the grass Major on the back of a disappointing loss to Jessica Pegula in the final of the Bad Homburg Open. She is yet to win a title under coach Wim Fissette's tutelage, with her last taste of success having come at the 2024 French Open.
