Why Iga Swiatek could skip a few tournaments in 2026
Iga Swiatek has made no secret of the fact that she is not a fan of the lengthy tennis calendar so what are the chances of her reducing her tournaments in 2026 in order to have more time to recover and work on her game?
The Pole played more than 70 matches in each of the four seasons as she hit the 79-match mark during the 2025 campaign, up from 73 the previous year, back in 2023 she also featured in 79 matches while in 2023 she competed in 76 matches.
There have been various complaints from Swiatek and other top players about the long season with the six-time Grand Slam winner stating in September, “I think we play too much and the schedule is crazy”.
Although men’s world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz has backed her up, fellow WTA star Zheng Qinwen dismissed those concerns while their objections continue to fall on deaf ears with the powers that be refusing to make changes to the calendar.
Swiatek hinted in the past that she could make tweaks to her schedule, and her coach Wim Fissette was asked by Sport.Pl’s Dominik Senkowski if they talked about skipping some events next year and he replied: “Yes, we have discussed it. We know how it was after Wimbledon, how much was going on with the tournaments in the run-up to the US Open.
“Then we had a few days off and returned to competition in Asia, where a long journey awaited us. It was very intense, Iga played a lot of matches. The more matches you play, the less time you have to work on your game.
“The last time we had at least 10 days or two weeks to train was before Wimbledon. Our experience of working during that period was very good.
“The key thing is that Iga is still very young and it is important for her to develop, and we need time and space for that. We talked about it, but we don’t know what it will look like at the moment.
“A lot depends on how she does in individual tournaments. There is a difference between being knocked out in the first round of the Australian Open and winning the whole tournament. It completely changes your plan for the next few days.
“This year, Iga may have won fewer tournaments, but she often reached the quarterfinals or semifinals, and therefore played only one or two fewer matches than if she had won the tournament.
“I feel we didn’t have enough time to train, or to truly recover between tournaments and always be 100 per cent fresh physically and mentally for the next event. The goal is to learn from these experiences for next year.”
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So what are the chances of the Pole would miss five or six events?
Fissette stated: “Five or six would be a lot. I think that even skipping one tournament can sometimes make a difference. We’ll see what happens, depending on the results Iga achieves and how she feels. But it won’t be a drastic change to the schedule.”
The Belgian added: “But ultimately, the situation is different when you’re 21 than when you’re 25 or 30. You also have to evolve your schedule. As you compete throughout the year, we have to make sure we’re as prepared as possible for the most important tournaments.
“I’m thinking about WTA Top 1000 events and Grand Slams, where you can also earn the most points. That’s where winning can make you number one in the world, and our goals are the highest. We simply have to make sure we’re in top form for these key tournaments, or strive to be in the best possible shape.”
