Billie Jean King’s endorsement of Novak Djokovic after the Serb called out his peers for staying silent over the crowded tennis calendar has not gone over well with tennis fans. King had previously criticized Iga Swiatek, Carlos Alcaraz and others for complaining about the same, leading to shouts of ‘double standards’ from fans now.
In his latest press conference at the US Open, Djokovic lamented that his fellow players were not ‘active’ in decision making when the ATP Tour was planning out the calendar. The 24-time Grand Slam champion wondered why players don’t put in the time and effect when it was time to make a change, only to complain about their ‘feelings’ later on.
Djokovic said:
“I have noticed that a lot of top players have been quite opposing the new change of the almost two-week events, the Masters level. I support the players. But (at) the end of the day, when the players needed to be active and when there was a time of negotiations and decision-making, players weren’t participating enough.”
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"This is an ongoing story of the players, particularly top players. They express their feelings, but then when you really need to put in the time and the energy into conversations, meetings, which I know it’s very difficult."
Billie Jean King took to social media to state she 'agreed' with Djokovic on his take.
"I agree with [Novak Djokovic]'s observations and opinions here," Billie Jean King wrote.
However, when Swiatek slammed the tennis tour for the 'crazy' schedule and Alcaraz said it was too 'demanding', the American legend sang a different tune. Speaking to the BBC, King called out players complaining over the matches and then going off to play exhibitions when large sums of money were at stake.
"It's so interesting how they always complain it's too much. They've been doing this forever by the way - but then they get a month off and they go play exhibitions."
"I go really? You guys said you needed the rest. Don't tell me you think the season is too long. I know if there's enough money you go and you play. It's a really tough argument for me to listen to the players," King said.
Fans reminded King of the same after her endorsement of Djokovic, asking her why she did not extend the same courtesy to Alcaraz and Swiatek back then. Fans repeatedly brought it to her attention that Swiatek was the first to publicly bring this to everyone's attention, only to get no support from the fraternity.
"Yeah, when Iga challenged schedule you all said she should stop complaining," one fan said.
"Yes, but when Iga and Carlos talked about the overloaded calendar and the need for change, you criticized them, saying they complained all the time. Do you expect them to object after such criticism?! You're not being objective," another wrote.
Here are a few more reactions from fans:
"It would have been helpful to be vocal with your support when Iga challenged the schedule back when she was No. 1 Instead she was criticised as entitled. Double standards?"
"Yeah but two years after than that Iga Swiatek spoke out this publicly..."
"Where were all of you when Iga talked about this every time someone asked her? And the tennis environment actually told her to stop complaining."
What Iga Swiatek had said about the demanding tennis calendar before Novak Djokovic's blunt US Open take
Speaking in a press conference at the 2024 US Open, one year ago, Iga Swiatek brought attention to the number of mandatory tournaments on the WTA Tour that made life difficult for the players.
"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.
The World No. 2 was worried that it was also difficult for fans, as their favorite players would end up withdrawing from tournaments with injuries if the schedule continued in the same way.
"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," she said.
In 2025, Swiatek arrived at the US Open just hours after her title win at the Cincinnati Open, and ended up playing the mixed doubles tournament the same day. In 48 hours, she had to play five matches, including two finals, and finished as the runner-up at the mixed doubles event.
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