By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, October 2, 2025
Photo credit: Fred Lee/Getty
Iga Swiatek slammed the cramped calendar of the WTA Tour as “pretty crazy.”
Zheng Qinwen disputes Swiatek’s criticism countering pro tennis success is survival of the fittest.
Wimbledon champion Swiatek slammed the WTA’s mandatory tournament rule requiring top players to compete in 10 WTA 1000 events, five WTA 500 tournaments and the four Grand Slams as excessive and potentially health hazardous.
World No. 2 Swiatek calls the current WTA schedule “overwhelming.”
“When I look at the schedule, I think we’re playing too much, and the schedule is crazy. That’s the first thing probably that will pop to my head,” Swiatek told the media in Beijing earlier this week. “That’s why I try to split the year for swings and just focus on the next swing.
“After a four-week pre-season, eight days of vacation, if I would look at the end of December and think I’m going to need to play for 11 months on the top of my game, I think that would be overwhelming. It’s better to just really take it step by step because the schedule is really demanding and tough.”
Asked her reaction, Zheng, who returned to action in Asia after rehabbing from shoulder surgery, disagreed with Swiatek’s sentiments.
Olympic gold-medal champion Zheng said managing the scheduling demands is part of being a professional player.
“I mean, this is part of the game,” Zheng said. “As a professional player, this is what it is, because we have to play that many tournaments in the calendar.
“I think my situation’s different than them. I [am] coming from surgery, which is a really rushed decision for me to play here. But also it is the right decision for me because I want to see where my body is right now…
“But I don’t think for professional players the calendar is too much because the strongest players survive, and that’s the rule in my head.”
Zheng, who retired from her Beijing match against Linda Noskova in the third set, said she missed competing, the adrenaline of match play and her fans during her surgery-induced sabbatical from tennis.
“I think the things I missed the most is to compete with others players because during these days, I only can see them on TV,” Zheng said. “I was sometimes laying on my bed because I just finished the surgery. I wish I could be in US Open, but I couldn’t move my arm still in that moment.
“I’m just really happy to come back and compete again. Of course, I miss all the fans who are cheering up for me. At the same time missed adrenaline, missing the pressure to be back on court.”
