{"id":530980,"date":"2026-03-18T14:48:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T14:48:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/530980\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T14:48:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T14:48:15","slug":"aryna-sabalenka-could-skip-top-tennis-tournament-over-withdrawal-criticism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/530980\/","title":{"rendered":"Aryna Sabalenka could skip top tennis tournament over withdrawal criticism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aryna Sabalenka may not play at a prestigious WTA Tour tournament again following criticism from its tournament director.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure if I ever want to go back there after his comment. For me it\u2019s too much,\u201d the world No. 1 told reporters at the Miami Open on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Her comments were in response to Salah Tahlak\u2019s call for Sabalenka and Iga \u015awi\u0105tek to be docked rankings points after they withdrew from February\u2019s Dubai Tennis Championships<\/a>, a WTA 1000 event one rung below the Grand Slams.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an unfortunate surprise last night to get news of the withdrawal of Aryna and Iga,\u201d Tahlak told The National<\/a>\u00a0mid-February. \u201cAnd the reasons for withdrawal were a bit strange. Iga said she wasn\u2019t mentally ready to compete, while Sabalenka said she has some minor injuries. I think there should be a harsher punishment on the players (for withdrawing). Not just fines \u2014 they should be docked ranking points.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Asked about Tahlak\u2019s comments in Florida, Sabalenka said his view was \u201cridiculous\u201d and said that he had not shown himself \u201cin the best way possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me it\u2019s so funny \u2014 not so \u2018funny,\u2019 it\u2019s actually so sad \u2014 to see that the tournament director and the tournaments are not protecting us, as the players,\u201d she continued. They just care about their sellings, about their tournament, and that\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sabalenka<\/a> also further explained her withdrawal from the tournament in the United Arab Emirates in the wider context of the tennis schedule.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like scheduling, it\u2019s too crazy. Last year, I was trying to play everything I could, and honestly at some point I wasn\u2019t in the best state of mind. And going into this season, we decided we\u2019re going to prioritize my health and make sure that we have these little gaps in the schedule where I can just reset, recharge and work and be better prepared for bigger tournaments,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a tough decision because you feel like you\u2019re disappointing the tournaments,\u201d Sabalenka explained. \u201cYou\u2019re disappointing people as well, because they were expecting me to play there and then I didn\u2019t; I pulled out. So it\u2019s a tough decision, and especially for me: I\u2019m the one really struggling to withdraw from the tournaments. I feel really guilty.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dubai Tennis Championships and WTA<\/a> did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

\u015awi\u0105tek had also spoken of her intention to pull out of WTA 1000s, all of which are mandatory, in order to manage what she, Sabalenka and some other players consider to be an unreasonably demanding schedule. In a news conference at September\u2019s U.S. Open, \u015awi\u0105tek described the the schedule as \u201ca madness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Missing a WTA 1000 event, of which there are 10, already carries a rankings penalty, because players receive zero points for those weeks of the year. Highly ranked players like Sabalenka and \u015awi\u0105tek are required to play in the four Grand Slams and six WTA 500 events as well as the 10 WTA 1000s under the association\u2019s rules.<\/p>\n

In response to Sabalenka\u2019s comments about the \u201cinsane\u201d schedule<\/a>, a WTA spokesperson said in January: \u201cAthlete welfare is, and will always remain, a top priority for the WTA. We listen and engage closely with players on all matters relating to the tennis season, including through the WTA Players\u2019 Council and player representatives on the WTA Board.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are committed to supporting athlete welfare and sustaining the long-term health of the sport. Based on feedback from our players, tournaments, and fans, we continue to review and explore improvements to our Tour structure, working in coordination with the ATP, ITF and Grand Slams.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sabalenka, who is defending champion at the Miami Open, will play Ann Li of the U.S. or Australia\u2019s Kimberly Birrell in her opening match.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aryna Sabalenka may not play at a prestigious WTA Tour tournament again following criticism from its tournament director.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":530981,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[99,1794,428],"class_list":["post-530980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-sports","tag-sports-business","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=530980"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530980\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/530981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=530980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=530980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=530980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}