Team Poland's chances of winning the Billie Jean King Cup have been dealt a potentially fatal blow after Iga Swiatek decided not to represent her country at the Finals.
The Billie Jean King Cup Finals will take place in Malaga, Spain, from November 13th to the 20th. Canada is the defending champion after Leylah Fernandez inspired her country to victory last year.
Although the team event is an exciting way to finish the year, it also comes after long and grueling seasons for all the players. Finding the energy to compete at 100% is undoubtedly challenging for WTA Tour stars.
Swiatek is currently focused on beating the US Open champion Aryna Sabalenka to the year-end No. 1 ranking. The Pole continued her dominance of the No. 1 spot in the latest rankings, but Sabalenka has closed the gap after her triumph at Flushing Meadows.
The race to finish 2024 as the No. 1 ranked player is probably why Swiatek considered playing at the ongoing Korea Open. However, she ultimately decided to withdraw from the tournament.
Hopefully, Swiatek does not get burnt out before the season ends. The five-time Grand Slam champion has been vocal about the calendar being too long with too many tournaments, something supported by many other players.
That issue is especially relevant to Swiatek because she regularly reaches the final stages of tournaments, meaning her rest and recovery time is less than that of many of her peers.
Those concerns are almost certainly why Swiatek chose not to play at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals. She undoubtedly feels competing at the event will not give her enough time to rest and prepare for the 2025 season.
Unfortunately for Team Poland, this is not a new development. Swiatek also did not play in the final stage of the Billie Jean King Cup last year. The team was eliminated in the group stage without the world No. 1 in 2023.
Many will support Swiatek's decision not to play at the team event. The 23-year-old could develop physical issues if she does not rest enough, which could jeopardize her chances of staying at world No. 1 in the future.
However, others may feel Swiatek is choosing to put her country second and that playing for one extra week is unlikely to do her any harm. The four-time French Open champion's decision not to play in the finals in 2023 and 2024 is undoubtedly a bitter pill for Team Poland to swallow.
None of this is meant to sound disrespectful to the players who will represent Team Poland in November. Magdalena Frech, Magda Linette, Maja Chwalinska, and Katarzyna Kawa are a solid quartet.
Frech and Linette have had great seasons in singles. Frech won her first WTA 500 title at the Guadalajara Open last week, overcoming Olivia Gadecki in the final. If she finds that form again, she will be very tough to face.
Linette won her first clay-court title this year at the Prague Open, ironically defeating Frech in the final. The 32-year-old was also the runner-up to the former US Open champion Sloane Stephens at the Rouen Open in April.