Aryna Sabalenka may not play in the Dubai Tennis Championships again.
Speaking ahead of the Miami Open, the women’s world No. 1 player expressed her dissatisfaction with the organizers of the Dubai tournament after tournament director Salah Tahlak told The National last month that the WTA should hand out “harsher” punishments to players who miss tournaments.
Sabalenka and then-world No. 2 Iga Świątek withdrew from the WTA 1000 event. The rest ultimately benefited Sabalenka, who won her first BNP Paribas Open title at Indian Wells on Sunday.
“For me, it’s actually so sad to see that the tournament directors are not protecting us as a player,” Sabalenka said. “They just are about their tournament, and that is it.”
She added that Tahlak’s comments are making her consider skipping out on the Dubai-based tournament completely: “I’m not sure if I ever want to go there after his comment. For me, it’s too much.”
The Dubai Tennis Championships did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
WTA rules state that players who miss tournaments will “forfeit ranking points” if they miss a tournament, but exceptions are made if they withdrew “due to injury or illness.” Sabalenka was listed out in Dubai with a right hip injury.
Some players can also absorb missing a tournament without it affecting their rankings based on the tour’s scoring system. There are 18 tournaments considered in a player’s score over a rolling 12-month period:
- Each of the four Grand Slams
- Six combined WTA 1000s: Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Rome, Toronto/Montreal, Cincinnati
- Best result in a non-combined WTA 1000: Doha, Dubai, Wuhan
- Next best seven results from WTA 1000, WTA 500, WTA 250, WTA 125 and ITF tournaments
Players who miss one of the three non-combined 1000 events may still register points by participating in either of the other two non-combined tournaments. Because Sabalenka also withdrew from Doha, she would lose out on any possible points if she misses the Wuhan Open in October.
The Belarusian star said in January that she planned on missing tournaments this year due to the “insane” schedule. She expressed her gripes about the schedule again Tuesday.
“We have these little gaps in the schedule where I can just reset, recharge, work, and be better prepared for bigger tournaments,” Sabalenka said. “I feel like scheduling is going crazy, and I feel like that’s why you see so many players injured, always taped, and not delivering the best quality matches because it’s almost impossible.”
Sabalenka and Świątek were far from the only players to drop out of the Dubai tournament as dozens—including other Top 10 players Elena Rybakina and Victoria Mboko—retired or withdrew.
The WTA schedule has become a growing issue, especially the early part of the season. Dubai tournament winner Jessica Pegula told Front Office Sports earlier this month that it wasn’t “overly surprising” that such a high volume of players withdrew from the event.
During the first week in Dubai, WTA chair Valerie Camilio announced a new Tour Architecture Council tasked with finding improvements to the tennis calendar that will be implemented as soon as next season. Pegula was named council chair.
Pegula told FOS that there’s no clear solution to fixing the problem.
“I can’t say I have an actual idea,” Pegula said. “I think just more flexibility would be a quick fix to just show the players that we’re trying to fix this. It’s probably not the perfect long term plan. I do think more flexibility if you’re sick or hurt, you shouldn’t feel like you’re forced to play an event—that is something that’s pretty standard across the world.”
Sabalenka would not be the first superstar to boycott a specific WTA event. Superstar sisters Serena and Venus Williams famously missed the Indian Wells tournament for more than a decade after accusing fans of racial abuse in 2001 when Venus withdrew from a semifinals match between the two of them. Serena would go on to win the tournament.
Serena returned to Indian Wells in 2014, while Venus returned in 2015. Venus played at this year’s event, losing in the first round of the singles tournament after receiving a Wild Card.
