Iga Swiatek hits back at tennis boss who wanted her punished and fumes ‘I’m not a slave’ | Tennis | Sport
Sabalenka has already responded, slamming Tahlak’s comments as “ridiculous” and suggesting she may not return to the tournament. But Swiatek had not been aware of the tournament director’s thoughts – until now.
“I think there should be a harsher punishment on the players [for withdrawing], not just fines, they should be docked ranking points,” Tahlak told The National following their withdrawals in February.
He also suggested to Al Bayan that players could be docked as many as 500 or 1000 points for late withdrawals, which would feel like “more than a fine”. This was news to Swiatek, who joined Sabalenka in branding these suggestions as “ridiculous”.
“I didn’t. I heard about the complaints, but I didn’t hear about the penalty, probably because it’s a bit ridiculous,” Swiatek said with a wry smile.
“Well, we have a right to withdraw any time we want, so I don’t see the problem, honestly. If we are not fit or we don’t feel like this is the right time for us to play a tournament, like, are we slaves? Like, we are allowed to decide. I don’t see the problem.”
The world No. 3 also pointed out that players were already penalised for not playing the required number of WTA 1000 and WTA 500 events. “We get zero in the ranking. That’s a punishment,” she added.
It remains to be seen whether Swiatek or Sabalenka return to Dubai next year, following the tournament director’s comments. For now, both women are fully focused on the upcoming French Open.
Four-time former champion Swiatek lost in the semi-finals here last year, and also reached the last four at the recent Italian Open. It’s been a while since she’s arrived at Roland Garros and not been the defending champion, but the Polish star is still feeling good.
“I think I will take good experience from this year’s Rome and, like, positive feedback also after the matches. And I also had the chance to play under pressure, I also had the chance to play short matches. I get the vibe of the matches. I’m in, like, the match rhythm, which is great, comparing to last year. But still, this is a totally different tournament with different conditions right now, especially with the heat. So you need to, like, be humble and start knowing that you’re willing to fight for every match,” she said.
