Tennis chief responds as Iga Swiatek blasts 'unsafe' schedule and pulls out of BJK Cup
IGA SWIATEK slammed the WTA and ITF for their scheduling.
The president of the International Tennis Federation has responded to Iga Swiatek after the world No 1 blasted both the ITF and WTA for their “impossible” and “unsafe” schedule. The three-time Grand Slam champion pulled out of the Billie Jean King Cup because of its close proximity to the WTA Finals in the schedule, and David Haggerty has now addressed her criticisms.
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Swiatek has been brutal in her assessment of the tennis schedule in recent days, first accusing the WTA and ITF of making it “impossible” for players by scheduling the WTA Finals and BJK Cup just one day apart on two different continents. She then doubled down on her comments when she officially withdrew from the former, known as the World Cup of women’s tennis, saying the tournament dates were “not safe for our health and could cause injury”.
The ITF president has now addressed the 21-year-old’s concerns and explained the choice for the dates in the calendar, with the WTA Finals ending on November 7 in Texas and the finals week of the BJK Cup beginning on November 8 in Glasgow. “The ITF is sorry that Iga Swiatek is unable to take part and recognises that the schedule for the two major year-end events presents a challenge for players competing in both events,” Haggerty told Reuters.
“We have been working with the WTA to try to coordinate suitable dates. While we were able to confirm the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Glasgow back in June, the WTA Finals venue in Fort Worth, Texas was confirmed during the US Open and restricted in terms of available dates.”
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The ITF boss did admit that the two governing bodies would work together to figure out a better schedule for the two tournaments next year to prevent such a quick turnaround between the final WTA event of the season and the team competition. Haggerty added: “We are committed to working with the WTA on the 2023 schedule so that we have a better transition between the two competitions.”
And he also said that, had Swiatek represented Poland in the BJK Cup, the ITF would have arranged for the country to play their opening tie as late as possible to give Swiatek more time to adjust after arriving in Glasgow from the WTA Finals in Texas.
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His words come as she vowed to hold talks with both the ITF and the WTA to prevent similar issues in the future. “I’m going to talk to the WTA and ITF in order to change something. This situation is difficult not only for the players like me, but mainly for the tennis fans that support our sport,” she said in a statement earlier this week, announcing her withdrawal from the BJK Cup.
Swiatek pulled out of the tournament just days after slamming the two governing bodies over the one-day gap between both tournaments. “I am dissatisfied, although I know that organising everything is complicated. I am certainly irritated by the fact that the WTA and ITF federations did not work together to make our task easier,” she told Sport.pl.
