Swiatek First Top Player To Support Performance Byes After A Lot Of Backlash

| by Evita Mueller

Iga Swiatek threw her support behind performance byes as the only top WTA player to actually be in favour of the rule.

Much has been said about performance byes recently after the whole rule became a talking point with Elena Rybakina's comments about it. She blasted the WTA for implementing the rule on short notice, which proved to be false as other players called her out, explaining that the event made it known to players far ahead.

It's basically a rule that allows players who performed well the previous week to avoid having to play an early match next week as a reward for their success the previous week. It's not implemented in all events but is being used at these Asian events causing some top names like Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, and Elena Rybakina to lose their first-round BYEs.

Unlike some of her colleagues, Swiatek is actually supportive of the move as she found herself often in a situation where she'd appreciate a performance bye, as she revealed at the 2023 China Open.

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I didn’t really dig into this rule so much because these are the first tournaments that I’m playing where it’s possible to get this kind of thing. But it’s been on tour for a long time. I think it’s smart because usually when I had tournaments that I played till the end, I know how it is to rush to another tournament and not have time to rest and prepare.

So I think that rule is fine. I think that rule makes sense. 'I just want to focus on myself. For me, doesn’t matter if I’m going to play one more match. It’s another opportunity for me to kind of win and to play. So it doesn’t matter to me if I play another match or not.

So far she's alone in that opinion, at least among those that spoke about it.

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