Six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek said she might have to miss mandatory tournaments to protect her health following a string of injuries among players at the China Open.<\/p>\n
The world number two from Poland reached the last 16 in Beijing after her Colombian opponent Camila Osorio retired hurt before the second set, with Swiatek winning the first 6-0.<\/p>\n
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That was one of five matches to not be played to a finish in China on Monday with Lois Boisson and Zheng Qinwen also suffering injuries on court, while Lorenzo Musetti and Jakub Mensik retired from their matches in the men’s tournament.<\/p>\n
Starting last year, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) made it mandatory for top players to participate in each Grand Slam, 10 WTA 1,000 events – including Beijing – and six 500-level tournaments.<\/p>\n
But Swiatek, 24, warned she may have to take breaks to protect herself.<\/p>\n
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“It’s just impossible to squeeze it in the schedule,” the former world number one said. “Maybe I will have to choose some tournaments and skip them, even though they are mandatory.<\/p>\n
“We have to be smart about it – not really unfortunately care about the rules and just think what’s healthy for us.”<\/p>\n
The amount of matches in the tennis calendar has been a major talking point in recent years, with players such as Novak Djokovic cutting back the number of tournaments they compete in as they near the end of their career.<\/p>\n
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Swiatek called the requirements “pretty crazy” for top players, adding that “people are more fatigued” in the second half of the season.<\/p>\n
“I don’t know yet how my career is going to look like in a couple of years,” she added. “The only thing I can do now, when I decided I’m going to play all these mandatory tournaments, is to just take care of my body, take care of the recovery.<\/p>\n
“The Asian swing is the hardest part because you feel like the season is going to finish soon, but you still need to push.<\/p>\n
“But yeah, there are a lot of injuries. It is because the season is too long and too intense.”<\/p>\n
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