Rybakina Explains Why 'Many Players Are Not Happy' About New Performance Byes Rules

| by Evita Mueller

Elena Rybakina once more touched upon the 'performance byes' after complaining about the rule last week in Tokyo.

The performance byes weren't a hot topic in tennis circles until Elena Rbyakina didn't push it to the front page. The Kazakhstani player blasted the WTA for apparently changing the rules out of the blue, which, according to some of her WTA colleagues, wasn't the case.

Many chimed in since then, with some like Swiatek being in favour of performance byes finding them useful while others like Sabalenka being very opposed to it. Rybakina herself wasn't happy with it and ultimately withdrew from the event, though she claimed that it had nothing to do with that but rather her still feeling the effects of a sickness she had a few weeks ago.

She made her return in Beijing at the 2023 China Open, winning her first match easily, and after the match spoke with media explaining why she blasted the WTA last week.

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In Tokyo I was not happy. They did not inform me about the performance bye. What was written on the information sheet & everywhere is that in Tokyo there would be between four & six performance byes, what she did not explain was whether they would add two additional byes or remove one. Here the rule is a little different & it was explained a little better.

The China Open has performance byes as well, but according to Rybakina, it's a little bit different, and it was better explained, which made the whole situation easier to accept. More generally, Rybakina doesn't favour this rule because she doesn't think it's a good look to have some of the best players in the world not having byes.

I don't think it would be good to put this rule only at the end of the season because we had a lot of events like this. I don't think it looks good for the world number one not to have a bye. This is something to discuss with the players & see how it is going to be the rule in the future because it has not been fulfilled for four years.

That is why many players, especially young players, did not know it. It is not that difficult to explain how it is going to work, that is why many players are not happy.”

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