Aryna Sabalenka makes important scheduling decision and blasts 'insane' calendar
NewsSaturday, 10 January 2026 at 21:47
Aryna Sabalenka has become the latest player to criticize the packed tennis calendar and is willing to face consequences for putting her physical health first.
Sabalenka's 2025 season was one of the most intense on the WTA Tour because she usually reaches the latter stages of tournaments. The world No. 1 reached an outstanding nine finals, winning four.
It can be argued that 2025 was something of a missed opportunity for Sabalenka because she lost two Major finals and could have conceivably done the Calendar Grand Slam. However, her achievements with how many events she played were remarkable and deserve praise.
Although what Sabalenka and other top players are doing is terrific, some are concerned about their long-term physical health because of the number of tournaments they play. For top WTA players, the four Grand Slams, ten WTA 1000s, and any six WTA 500s are mandatory.
Almost no players meet the six WTA 500s because they need some rest and recovery time. Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, and Coco Gauff were among the players who lost ranking points for not playing enough tournaments despite how intense their schedules were.
Sabalenka has made a clear decision for 2026. In an interview with the 2026 Brisbane International, where she progressed to the final, the four-time Grand Slam champion said she will skip some tournaments because stages of 2025 were challenging.
"The rules are quite tricky with mandatory events, but I'm still skipping a couple of events in order to protect my body, because I struggled a lot last season."
"Even though the results were really consistent, some of the tournaments I had been playing completely sick, or I've been really exhausted from overplaying. This season we will try to manage it a little bit better, even though they are going to fine me by the end of the season."
The No. 1 female player then took aim at those making the calendar, claiming they are not acting in the players' interests. Sabalenka also mentioned she cannot skip WTA 1000s, strongly indicating she will play fewer 500-level events in 2026.
"You cannot skip 1000 events. It's really tricky, and I think that's insane what they do. I think they just follow their interests, but they're not focusing on protecting all of us."
Aryna Sabalenka hopes to win a third Australian Open title
At the 2025 Australian Open, Aryna Sabalenka came agonizingly close to a third consecutive title in Melbourne. Her final with Madison Keys went to the wire, but the American ultimately triumphed 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, winning a maiden Grand Slam.
Although a disappointing moment, Sabalenka will deservedly start the 2026 Australian Open as the women's singles favorite. She has reached every hard court Grand Slam final since the start of 2023, winning four.
Keys, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Mirra Andreeva, Amanda Anisimova, and Jessica Pegula are among the other women vying for the title. Gauff defeated Sabalenka in the 2025 French Open final, recovering from losing the opening set on a windy day in Paris.
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