Two-time Grand Slam champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov has branded Iga Swiatek as a ‘cry baby’ over her remarks about the Tour calendar.
The former world No.1 has accused Swiatek of complaining too much after she spoke about the current Tour schedule following her quarter-final win over Mirra Andreeva at the Cincinnati Open on Saturday. During an interview with Sky Sports, the Pole said the sport is becoming less fun for players due to too many tournaments taking place over the season. This week she is playing in her 13th event since January, including the Billie Jean King Cup.
“I’ve been kind of an advocate in saying that we shouldn’t, I don’t know… be pushing and pushing for us to play more,” said Swiatek.
“Obviously it is not our decision, but for sure I think we have too many tournaments in the season. It’s not going to end well.
“It makes tennis less fun for us. Obviously, I love playing in all these places, but it’s pretty exhausting. Most of the players will tell you that. Especially when you are playing at the higher level and going to the end of tournaments.”
Elaborating further, Swiatek says players should be able to take more breaks from the sport. It is not the first time she has voiced her concerns about the calendar.
“I don’t think it should be like that because we deserve to rest a little bit more. Maybe people are going to hate me for saying that,” she continued.
“I’m asking for rest. That doesn’t make sense, but the best players learn how to balance it out wherever the ATP or WTA are pushing. We will see in the future how it works out.”
The remarks haven’t gone down too well with Kafelnikov, who won 26 ATP titles between 1994 and 2002. Writing on social media site X, he hit back by saying the women’s tennis star deserved to be paid less.
“Is someone pushing you to play ??? All you fricking do is complain!! I’ll tell you what you deserve! You deserve to get paid a lot less than you do now!! How about that??” he wrote.
In a separate post, he commented further on the topic by writing ‘fricking cry babies!!! They want to earn millions but do nothing in return!‘ Kafelnikov wrote this in response to a post asking if people agree with what Swiatek was saying. He also questioned those complaining about the scheduling whilst playing in various exhibition events during the off-season.
On the other hand, 18-time major winner Chris Evert is more sympathetic about the matter.
“I certainly can understand Iga Swiatek’s concern about playing too many tournaments, especially when you go deep in tournaments every week. Adding in the Olympics and much more depth in the game, it’s an important topic…” She wrote.
According to the WTA, Swiatek has played 59 matches so far this year and has won 53 of them. She will next play Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals in Cincinnati.
