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.
