"You deserve to get paid a lot less": Two-time Grand Slam winner lambasts Iga Swiatek for complaining about hectic tennis schedule

Former Russian player Yevgeny Kafelnikov has criticized Poland’s Iga Swiatek for complaining about a hectic tennis schedule. The 23-year-old is already regarded as the best player currently playing in women’s tennis in the singles category.

Swiatek is currently taking part in the Cincinnati Open where she booked her place in the semifinal after beating Russia’s young tennis sensation Mirra Andreeva in the last-eight clash with a score of 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. Talking after the match, Swiatek once again highlighted hectic tennis schedule and stated that it is no more fun for players to continue playing throughout the year without proper breaks.

"So what can I say? I've been kind of an advocate, saying that well, we shouldn't be pushing and pushing for us to play more,” she said while speaking to Sky Sports. “Obviously, it's not our decision, but for sure, I think we have too many tournaments in the season," Iga Swiatek said."It's not gonna end well as it's just it makes tennis less fun for us. Let's just say, I mean, obviously, I love playing all these places but it's pretty exhausting.”

Kafelnikov, in a post on the social media platform X — previously known as Twitter — lambasted Swiatek for ‘complaining’ about the schedule. The two-time Grand Slam winner highlighted that no one is ‘pushing’ anyone to play and suggested that Swiatek deserves to get paid ‘a lot lesser’. “Is someone pushing you to play ??? All you fricking do is complain!! I’ll tell you what you deserve ! You deserve to get paid a lot less than you do now!! How about that??,” he wrote.

Swiatek is now set to face off world number three Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinal of the competition on Sunday. The 26-year-old booked her spot in the last-four after beating Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova in the quarterfinal in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 6-2.