The 2025 tennis season has unfolded like a never-ending marathon. It has pushed players to the brink both physically and mentally; week after week, players have hauled themselves across continents, adapting from hard courts to clay to grass to hard courts again with barely a moment to breathe. Players have been pushed to their limits, enduring fatigue, injury, and mid-tournaments. Not even World No. 2 Iga Swiatek has escaped the aftereffects.

Tennis is a sport that has always valued endurance, but this year the grind of the tour has seemingly taken a heavier turn, with the likes of Emma Raducanu and Naomi Osaka all feeling the impact late into the season. Swiatek previously even suggested she would accept the ensuing points penalty and skip mandatory tournaments if the status quo continued.

As the Polish star kicked off her 2025 WTA Finals campaign in Riyadh with a win over Madison Keys, she’s doubled down on that opinion. “The schedule is excessive. It has become a business, with contracts and licenses. But everyone knows the plan is heading in the wrong direction. In 2026, I will no longer look at which tournaments are mandatory or where I risk getting a zero in the rankings. I will organize my schedule as I want.” she told WP SportoweFakty.

Swiatek has already played 76 matches this season, no doubt triggering her strong stance. “Maybe I will skip some tournaments, but if it allows me to be better in the ones I do play, that will be positive. The well-being of the players must be a real priority, not just a matter of increased prize money,” she continued. Many tournaments, such as the Grand Slams, have been increasing their prize pot year by year, but as Swiatek argues, what is the point if the players aren’t fit enough to properly compete for it?

Though Swiatek has emerged physically unscathed at the end of the season, she played the US Open battling a foot injury, perhaps contributing to her toothless quarterfinal exit to Amanda Anisimova. Was the congested schedule to blame? For those who might have forgotten, Swiatek won Cincinnati, was flown out to New York just hours later to play in the revamped mixed doubles tournament, reached the final, and then began her singles campaign.

However, the Polish star also added that she is all geared up to give her best in the WTA Finals. “I feel very good physically. In the last few tournaments, I didn’t have much energy, but this period of training in Warsaw did me good. I even pushed my limits to training,” shared Swiatek (translated from French). Well, the fruits of all that training were clearly visible as she produced an imperious performance to down Keys earlier today.

Iga Swiatek looked unstoppable in her first outing in Riyadh

The WTA Finals kicked off with a blockbuster matchup: Iga Swiatek vs. Madison Keys, the Wimbledon champion vs. the Australian Open champion. Keys hadn’t played since her US Open first-round exit, while Swiatek was coming off of a similar shock defeat to Jasmine Paolini in Wuhan. Ultimately, it was the World No. 2 who flexed her muscles for a dominant 6-1, 6-2 finish in just a little over an hour.

Although both players came in with a point to prove, it was Keys’ lack of match sharpness that was her undoing. Swiatek looked fresh and raring to after a packed Asian Swing plus her Warsaw training camp, whereas Keys appeared sluggish and a touch off pace throughout.

So what part of her game was Swiatek most satisfied by?

“Honestly about everything, kind of. I don’t know, all the things that I practised, I got it together today to play with the right balance in terms of being solid and aggressive. So I’m overall happy with the work that I put in after the China swing, especially in Warsaw,” said Swiatek after the match. “So that gives me, for sure, confidence to go forward and develop as a player. I’m happy that I could bring my game today and I’ll be ready to do that the next days.”

If this is Iga Swiatek after a grueling season, it’ll be interesting to see her next year when she organizes her schedule on her own terms. But for now the warning shot has been fired in Riyadh, and it’s down to the remaining 6 finalists as to how they will respond.