"We're going in the wrong direction" - Elena Rybakina lambasts being "forced to compete" amid hectic Madrid Open and Italian Open schedules
Elena Rybakina has raised her voice against the scheduling of the Madrid Open and the Italian Open ahead of the 2024 French Open.
Both the Madrid Open and the Italian Open are two-week-long events on the WTA Tour. According to the WTA World No. 4, the lengthy durations of the prestigious WTA 1000 events prove troublesome for players in terms of their rest and recovery, which are necessary for them to perform at their best at Roland Garros.
The Kazakh, currently competing at this year's Madrid Open, has talked about it on two occasions during her run to the semifinals in the Spanish capital. The latest instance saw Rybakina compare the schedules of the Madrid Open and the Italian Open to those of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and the Miami Open.
According to Rybakina, two-week-long schedules for the BNP Paribas Open and the Miami Open would not pose problems to players. The US-based tournaments, collectively known as the Sunshine Double, do not typically take place in the build-up to a Major.
"It may make sense for Indian Wells and Miami to have that duration, but to do it in these two events, shortly before Roland Garros... With the new rules there is no room to choose, we are forced to compete in too many tournaments," Elena Rybakina said during a press conference at the ongoing Madrid Open.
The Kazakh also went on to give a damning verdict of the tennis tours, saying that they are headed in the "wrong direction". She also said that despite her best attempts to enforce changes through dialog, there has been next to no improvement. Rybakina concluded by saying that for the time being, she has no option but to accept things as they are.
"We are going in [the] wrong direction, there is a lot to improve on the circuit and last year I wasted a lot of energy trying to change things. I realized that it is very difficult to do so, so I will just assume the rules and do the best I can," Rybakina added.
"It’s not easy to perform when you are traveling so much" - Elena Rybakina
Following her Madrid Open third-round win over Mayar Sherif recently, Rybakina touched on the subject of the high frequency of matches and tournaments that tennis players have to feature in.
The 2022 Wimbledon champion said that despite audiences demanding "quality matches", it's difficult for players to be at their best considering the vast distances they have to travel from one tournament to the next.
"For us, it’s [a] very difficult schedule, that's for sure. Of course, people want to see quality matches. It’s not easy to perform when you are traveling so much and you have week by week tournament," Elena Rybakina had said.
Rybakina is set to face WTA World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka next in the Madrid Open semifinals. Sabalenka leads the pair's head-to-head 5-3 on the WTA Tour. However, their last meeting in the final of the 2024 Brisbane International went Rybakina's way.