Anna Kalinskaya Angrily Slams WTA And Cincinnati Open For 'Unfair' Scheduling
NewsFriday, 15 August 2025 at 18:50
Anna Kalinskaya issued a fiery statement on social media, outlining her disappointment with the WTA and 2025 Cincinnati Open organizers for their scheduling.
Kalinskaya continued her impressive North American hard-court swing by recovering from losing the opening set to defeat Ekaterina Alexandrova in the round of 16, setting up a quarterfinal meeting with Iga Swiatek.
That contest ended at 2:40 a.m. Delays have been caused in Cincinnati by bad weather, including lightning, which has pushed back the schedule and caused matches to finish later than expected.
The expanded 12-day format used at this year's Cincinnati Open means Kalinskaya had a day off before her match with Swiatek, but the 2025 Citi DC Open runner-up explained why she was still unhappy with the scheduling.
Kalinskaya hits out at 'unfair' scheduling
Although she had a day to recover from her late finish against Alexandrova, Kalinskaya believes that her contest with Swiatek, scheduled for 11 a.m. before the other women's quarterfinals, was unfair.
"How can the WTA and tournament expect athletes to perform their best when the scheduling is this unfair? After my match against Alexandrova, I got home from the site at 2:40am and didn't go to bed until 4am. I slept a bit and came to the site to practice."
"Then I get scheduled at 11am for tomorrow's match - how does the tournament and WTA expect me to recover and continuously adjust my sleep pattern, which is one of the most important aspects of recovery? Seems a bit one sided."
Kalinskaya's opinion is somewhat understandable. Having a late finish makes it natural that she would expect to feature in one of the later matches out of respect for her efforts in the early hours.
However, well-known commentator and journalist Jose Morgado explained the situation from the tournament's perspective. The high-profile matchup between Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina made it hard to avoid putting Kalinskaya at 11 am.
“Not ideal but a bit unfortunate, to be honest. WTA top half QFs have to be 1st and 2nd tomorrow and they didn't want to put the best match on paper (Sabalenka-Rybakina) at 11am. Bottom half QFs have to be played later as their R16 are today. Men's QFs have 3pm/7pm slots."
While Kalinskaya's feelings are valid, the tournament has a strong argument to say it could not have done anything different. The weather complicated matters, and Kalinskaya still had a day's rest before facing Swiatek.
Kalinskaya is not the only player with scheduling complaints
At the 2025 Canadian Open, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina publicly voiced his annoyance about playing at 11 am and mentioned how early he would have to get up, especially since his hotel was not near the grounds.
Daniel Evans furiously responded to Davidovich Fokina's complaints. The Briton told him that people worldwide get up early for work and felt the Spaniard's annoyance about an early start was embarrassing.
Although there have been instances of genuinely unfair scheduling in the past, Kalinskaya and Davidovich Fokina's cases do not feel like overly egregious cases of unfair treatment.
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