The Italian Open used to be a one-week tournament, but now it lasts two weeks, and Iga Swiatek explained why this decision is not necessarily a good one.
There was a time when most WTA 1000 tournaments were one-week events, but in recent years, we've seen quite a few of them extended into longer formats. One of those is the Italian Open, which now lasts two weeks, something that not many tennis players are fans of.
Andy Murray was one of the first to speak out against it, and Andrey Rublev raised the issue again recently. Players are just not keen on spending more time on Tour than they already have because the calendar is long enough as it is.
The change was neatly framed as something to protect the players because they will have more time between matches to recover. That's true, but that doesn't mean it's all positive. Swiatek explained recently that players still go out on the courts when they have a day off to keep their rhythm.
"Honestly, it depends. It's hard for me to say. I guess we're going to see in a few years the difference it makes in our bodies. On one hand, it's easier to recover, but on the other hand, you're still coming on courts on days off between matches, so it's not that you can reset completely."
Another thing that the Tours fail to mention is that a longer event equals more money, and money has generally been a very good motivator for most decisions to be made.
That part is conveniently omitted from these talks, and it was likely the most important part of the decision. For Swiatek, it's just something she needs to adjust to because, in reality, there is not much players can do about it.
"Tournaments are long, and there is no time to rest in between, no time to come back home, so you just have to plan it wisely and smartly, adjust to this change because it is a change in our whole schedule. Well, see, I'm not an expert, so it's hard for me to say."
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