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‘I’m Not Happy at All’- Current World No.1 Expresses Her Concerns About ITF and WTA Being Uncooperative

Published 10/02/2022, 11:24 AM EDT

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via Reuters

Despite being the top seed following, Ashleigh Barty’s unexpected retirement earlier this year, Iga Swiatek is dissatisfied with the ITF and WTA scheduling of the WTA and Billie Jean King Cup finals.

Iga Swiatek, a three-time grand slam winner, became the first Polish to lift the US Open trophy since 1999. As she won at the Roland Garros and the Flushing Meadows in 2022, she has had a fantastic year so far.

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Iga Swiatek takes shots at the ITA and WTA

In a recent interview, the Polish ace vented her frustration at the International Tennis Federation and the Women’s Tennis Association for not allowing enough time to prepare for matches. She elaborated by saying that the players, especially the women, are put in an emotionally and physically taxing position due to the packed schedule of games.

via Reuters

It becomes pretty challenging to adapt to diverse time zones within in such a constrained period of time, the current world No.1 remarked.

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“I am dissatisfied, although I know that organising everything is complicated. I am irritated by the fact that the WTA and ITF federations did not work together to make our tasks easier”, Swiatek acknowledged.

The young Tennis star pledges to make things better

Despite having a solid foundation and being able to connect with people she knew previous to her fame, the young gun is dissatisfied and stated, “I’m not happy at all. The fact that ITF and WTA are not cooperating worries me. I will do everything in my hands to change things. I don’t want to repeat itself. In 2021 the same thing happened, that’s why some players have been forced to make a decision. It’s not fair.”’

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Swiatek hopes to use the authority she has as a result of her global ranking to speak out on this issue and interact with both federations in order to avoid such tight scheduling of the matches in the future.

USA Today via Reuters

Swiatek has qualified for the WTA Finals, which begin on October 31st and end on November 7th. She is scheduled to compete in the Billie Jean Cup Finals the following day, on November 8th. However, the Polish maestro expressed doubts about her partaking in Scotland, saying, “I don’t understand the schedule, I won’t lie that if I go far in the finals, I’ll have to play tired the next day so I cannot confirm whether I will represent Poland or not. I’m sorry.”

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Watch this story- Serena Williams and Kim Kardashian’s ‘Tom Boy’ Best Friend Once Disclosed Why She Would Never Give Parenting Advice: ‘But Girly Stuff?’

Notably, this is not the first time Swiatek has taken a stand on something like this. When female players at The US Open this year were treated differently from men with respect to the type of ball provided during practice, she had been vocal to slam the respective authority.

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Written by:

Payal Ahuja

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Payal Ahuja is a Tennis Author at EssentiallySports. She has extensive experience in delivering lectures as a faculty for tests like GRE, GMAT, TOEFL, and IELTS. Payal is an avid sports fan, with a particular interest in tennis and cricket.
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Edited by:

Manaal Siddiqui