Sabalenka: “Insane” Schedule Threatens Players
By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, January 8, 2026
Photo credit: Matthew Chamlin
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka wears a bulls-eye on her back as opponents aim to topple her.
But the reigning US Open champion says there’s a more insidious threat to her reign: an “insane” WTA schedule that she believes can jeopardize players’ health.
Speaking to the media in Brisbane after defeating Sorana Cirstea 6-3, 6-3, Sabalenka was asked if she plans to emulate Serena Williams, who skipped several tournaments to focus her attention on Grand Slams in the latter stages of her career.
Brisbane champion Sabalenka said WTA rules are designed to penalize players who skip mandatory 500 or 1000-level tournaments.
“Well, the season is definitely insane, and that’s not good for all of us, as you see so many players getting injured and also the balls are quite heavy, so it’s a lot, yeah, a lot of struggle for all of us,” Sabalenka said. “But what Serena did, the rules were different. Right now, like last season, by the end of the season, because I didn’t play enough of 500 events, they fine us with points, me and Iga.
“So then it’s, like, okay if you play seven events, even if you win — okay, if you win all of them,
then maybe it’s not a big deal. But you cannot predict that I’m going to play seven events, I’m going to win them all, and that’s it.”
Sabalenka’s comments echo criticism world No. 2 Iga Swiatek made late last season suggesting she will skip mandatory events in 2026—and pay the fine the WTA will impose—because she must try to preserve her health and fitness.
Swiatek pointed to 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.
Calling those requirements “pretty crazy”, Swiatek said it’s up to players to protect their health, which may mean she opts out of some tournaments in the future.
“It’s just impossible to squeeze it in the schedule,” Swiatek said.
“I think we have to be smart about it, not really unfortunately care about the rules and just think what’s healthy for us.”
Similarly, Sabalenka said she will also skip some mandatory tournaments this season because playing a complete schedule would leave her “exhausted” and potentially injured. Sabalenka suggested the Tour does not really care about protecting the health of its players.
“The rules are quite tricky with mandatory events, but I’m still doing that, like, I’m skipping couple events in order to protect my body, because I struggled a lot last season,” Sabalenka said. “Even though the results were really consistent, but some of the tournaments I had been playing completely sick or
I’ve been really exhausted from overplaying.
“So 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. But it’s tricky to do that. You cannot skip like 1000 event. It’s really tricky, and I think that’s insane what they do. I think they just follow their interests, but they’re not focusing on protecting all of us.”
Critics say if Sabalenka truly cares about preserving health then why did she play lucrative offseason exhibition events at Madison Square Garden and in Dubai where she faced Nick Kyrgios in the Battle of the Sexes exhibition?
Sabalenka played 16 tournaments and 75 singles matches in 2025. That’s five more matches than the 70 matches Sabalenka played in 2024.
The question is: Is it sustainable for Sabalenka, who typically goes deep in virtually every event she plays, to play 70-plus matches a season and stay healthy? She seems to have concluded it’s not and therefore will limit her 2026 schedule.
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