Sabalenka hits out at tennis chiefs over ‘insane’ tournament scheduling

Sabalenka hits out at tennis chiefs over ‘insane’ tournament schedulingThe world No 1 expects to ‌skip events again this year and face likely sanctions rather than put her health at risk.Published On 8 Jan 2026World number one Aryna Sabalenka has accused tennis authorities of “following their interests” and failing to put player welfare first over what she called an “insane” tennis season.The Belarusian expects to ‌skip events this year rather than put her health at risk over ‍the course of ‍the season, even though she knows she is likely to be sanctioned by the WTA Tour for doing so, the world number one said on Thursday.Top players are obliged to compete in all four Grand Slams, 10 WTA 1000 ⁠tournaments and six WTA 500 events under WTA rules, with the punishment for missing them ​ranging from rankings points deductions to fines.In 2025, Sabalenka competed in ‍just three WTA 500 events – Brisbane, Stuttgart and Berlin – making her one of several high-ranked players, including world number two Iga Swiatek, to be docked ranking points.Asked if she would change ‍her plans for ⁠2026, the four-time Grand Slam champion told reporters: “The season is definitely insane, and that’s not good for all of us, as you see so many players getting injured …“The rules are quite tricky with mandatory events, but I’m still skipping a couple of events in order to protect my body, because I struggled a lot last season,” she said after beating Sorana Cirstea at the Brisbane ​International.“Even though the results were really consistent, some of the ‌tournaments I had been playing completely sick or I’d been really exhausted from overplaying. This season, we will try to manage it a little bit better, even though they are going to fine me by ‌the end of the season.