‘It’s complete bullsh*t’ – WTA Tour star rips into tennis chiefs in angry rant
The issue of tournament scheduling has been a talking point in tennis for many years and now another big name has ripped into the authorities over the issues around fatigue at the top of the game.
World No 11 Daria Kasatkina has never been wary of upsetting the game’s authorities when she speaks about the game and life in general and now the Russian star has spoken out against what she has suggested tennis is the worst sport in the world when it comes to player welfare.
The challenge of playing back-to-back tournaments in different cities and sometimes even different continents, sometimes within 48 hours, is unique to tennis and Kasatkina didn’t hold back as she gave her verdict on the issue.
“I arrived to a Masters tournament and they meet only from one airport. They don’t meet you from another, so I played in Tokyo last night and it was impossible to fly in the evening,” she said.
“So I need to fly the next day at 10am. I need to arrive earlier because tomorrow I have to play. Honestly, I’m exhausted.
“The game of tennis itself is the simplest thing we do. Everything else is just completely bull***t. I can’t travel anymore.
“I can’t pack my things, these planes, moving, when you can’t communicate with people from different countries, constantly changing beds, constantly packing and unpacking bags every week, I just can’t do it anymore.
“My body is just telling me to f*ck off already. For the third time in a month and a half I have a sore throat and, in general, my condition is incomprehensible.
“In terms of life logistics, there is no worse sport in the whole world. It’s just complete bullsh*t.”
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Kasatkina is far from being the first player to make these observations, with some of the biggest names in women’s tennis already confirming they will not compete in next month’s Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Seville due to scheduling issues.
Igo Swiatek and Coco Gauff are among the big names who will not represent their nations at the biggest team event in women’s tennis, with the WTA Finals taking place in Mexico the week before the Billie Jean King Cup Finals kick-off in Spain.
Getting from Cancun in Mexico to Seville to play in both events would be almost impossible, with the inevitable withdrawals diluting the quality of the women’s World Cup of Tennis that is the showpiece finale to the season.
“I was thinking it through a lot and discussing it with my team all over again, but I will not be able to play at the Billie Jean King Cup and it makes me sad,” said Swiatek when she pulled out of the Billie Jean King Cup Finals last year for the same scheduling reasons.
“I’m very sorry, because I play for Poland whenever it’s possible and I always give it my best. Playing in Poland this year (in the qualifiers in April) was an honour and I hoped to do this again at the end of the season.
“I’m disappointed that tennis governing bodies didn’t come to an agreement on something as basic as the calendar of tournaments, giving us only one day to travel through the globe and changing the time zone. The situation is not safe for our health and could cause injury.
“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.”
