Iga Swiatek has spoken a few times in the past about the crazy tennis schedule, and she once again mentioned it during the 2024 Cincinnati Open.
The Pole is a relatively outspoken tennis player, even though she doesn't speak often. She mostly openly talks about topics when asked about them. Doing that doesn't come naturally to her because she's a self-described introvert, but it comes with the territory.
She realized that being world number one on the WTA Tour comes with a certain responsibility to speak up, especially in tennis matters. She used her platform to highlight mental health and often talked about the crazy schedule that tennis players have to endure.
The season lasts the whole year, essentially leaving about a month at the end of the year as the proper off-season. During the rest of the year, tennis players must practice and remain in shape because they never stop playing.
Ironically, the only rest players get is when they get injured. Swiatek has spoken often about the schedule, even though she's not the only one. Several players, including Carlos Alcaraz, have highlighted the schedule as something that may have to be reformed in the future.
When it comes to Swiatek, she was asked if she had any downtime recently, when talking on the Tennis Channel after her most recent victory at the 2024 Cincinnati Open.
"I had like two and half days after Wimbledon. I have days off when I don't go on court but you're not gonna rest fully even if you had two days off during the week. You need more time to reset properly."
"It's tough on everybody. Our schedule is crazy for everybody, and it's getting even more crazy. Sometimes I feel like I'm this hamster in this wheel just running towards next tournamnet. You don't have time to reset."
The tennis schedule is indeed quite brutal, but it's not likely to change anytime soon. Even Swiatek, who isn't that privy to what's going on in the WTA situation room, knows that things will likely not go well in the future.
She expressed her hope that the demand on players' bodies would decrease in the future but also pointed out how some rules were changed last year, basically enlarging the pool of events that are considered mandatory to attend.
"Even after the Olympics, this is something that most athletes get a couple of months to reflect on and live their lives. We are in the next tournament and we need to keep going."
"This is tennis life, and hopefully, they're not going to be too hard on us in the future, but rules changed last year, and now we have more mandatory tournaments."
Tennis players don't have to play every tournament, but there are those considered mandatory, and as Swiatek pointed out, there are more and more of them. Sponsors are likely driving that because the more money they put into the prize pool, the more they want the stars to attend in return.
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