Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek believes fans are being robbed of seeing tennis' biggest names performing at their best due to the intensity of a relentless schedule. Swiatek, who has consistently spoken out about the physical and mental demands placed upon top players, said the number of mandatory events on the WTA Tour was ruining the spectacle for fans ahead of the third Grand Slam of the year at Wimbledon, which begins on Monday.
"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," Swiatek said at her pre-Wimbledon press conference on Sunday.
"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.
"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." Swiatek is yet to win a title this year in a disappointing run that has seen her slip to fourth in the world rankings.
Her three-year reign as French Open champion was ended in a semi-final defeat to world number one Aryna Sabalenka earlier this month. But a slightly earlier exit from the clay of Roland Garros has allowed Swiatek extra time to prepare for the transition to grass, where she has traditionally struggled despite winning Wimbledon as a junior.
Swiatek reached her first ever grass court final on Saturday, losing to Jessica Pegula in the Bad Homburg Open.
"Probably so far it's the best one that I've had," added Switek on her preparations for Wimbledon, where she has never progressed beyond the fourth round.
"I had really great time in Bad Homburg and enjoyed it. Also having more time to practice before on grass really helped. I feel that I have a little bit more skills."
Swiatek faces Russia's Polina Kudermetova in the first round on Tuesday.
Krejcikova ready for Wimbledon title defence after injury scare
Barbora Krejcikova insists she is fit for her Wimbledon title defence after the Czech suffered a thigh injury scare just days before the tournament.
Krejcikova's Wimbledon participation was plunged into doubt when she pulled out of the warm-up event at Eastbourne on Thursday.
The 29-year-old withdrew before playing Varvara Gracheva in the quarter-finals after initially sustaining the injury on Wednesday during her second-round victory over Jodie Burrage.
But after resting for several days, Krejcikova is confident the injury will not be an impediment to her bid to retain the Venus Rosewater Dish.
"I had to have a couple of days off where I didn't really play any tennis but I did some off-court stuff. I've been feeling every day a little bit better, so I'm really happy with that," she told reporters at the All England Club on Sunday.
"I hope by Tuesday everything is going to be fine. I hope I'm going to have a nice match and a great tournament."
Krejcikova will start her All England Club campaign against Alexandra Eala of the Philippines in the first round on Centre Court on Tuesday.
Eala made history by becoming the first Filipina to reach a WTA final with her run to the Eastbourne title match on Saturday.
The 20-year-old enjoyed a breakthrough run to the Miami Masters semi-finals in March and Krejcikova is relishing the chance to test herself against an emerging star.
"To be honest, I don't really know that much about her yet because she's obviously a young player, an upcoming player, and one of the players of the new generation," she said.
"I know that she was doing quite well at the first half of the year. It's going to be a great matchup. I'm looking forward to see where the young generation is."
Krejcikova, a two-time Grand Slam winner, hopes being back at Wimbledon can provide a welcome lift after a difficult year.
The world number 16 has endured a rough ride since defeating Italy's Jasmine Paolini in the Wimbledon final 12 months ago.
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