{"id":2101372,"date":"2026-08-19T17:30:56","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T14:30:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2101372"},"modified":"2026-08-19T17:30:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T14:30:56","slug":"f-the-players-over-tennis-legend-calls-for-huge-reform-after-iga-swiatek-and-elena-rybakina-farce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2101372","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;F****** the players over&#8217; &#8211; Tennis legend calls for huge reform after Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina farce"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"ps-article-content rounded-lg lg:mt-5 lg:border lg:border-card lg:bg-card lg:shadow-primary\">\n<header>\n<h1 class=\"py-4 text-xl font-normal text-title sm:text-2xl\">\u2018F****** the players over\u2019 \u2013 Tennis legend calls for huge reform after Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina farce<\/h1>\n<div class=\"my-2 flex items-center justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/author\/richie-mills\" class=\"text-sm font-normal !text-author\"><br \/>\n                            Richie Mills                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <time class=\"ml-3 text-sm font-normal text-info md:ml-4\" datetime=\"19 Aug 2026 6:30 PM\" data-ps-date=\"19 Aug 2026 6:30 PM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1787160656\"><br \/>\n                            19 Aug 2026 6:30 PM                        <\/time>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"hidden justify-end space-x-4 text-xl sm:flex sm:!opacity-100\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_dark.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on 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twitter\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tennis365.com%2Ftennis-features%2Ff-players-over-tennis-legend-calls-huge-reform-iga-swiatek-elena-rybakina-farce\" class=\"!text-info hover:!text-brand\" aria-label=\"Share to linkedin\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <a class=\"!text-info hover:!text-brand\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/\/send\/?text=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tennis365.com%2Ftennis-features%2Ff-players-over-tennis-legend-calls-huge-reform-iga-swiatek-elena-rybakina-farce\" aria-label=\"Share to whatsapp\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <a class=\"!text-info hover:!text-brand\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/share.flipboard.com\/bookmarklet\/popout?v=2&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tennis365.com%2Ftennis-features%2Ff-players-over-tennis-legend-calls-huge-reform-iga-swiatek-elena-rybakina-farce\" aria-label=\"Share to flipboard\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/a>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"sm:hidden flex items-center space-x-5\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_dark.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 dark:hidden h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_light.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <button id=\"t365-article-share-btn-hidden\" class=\"mr-2 hidden h-6 w-6 appearance-none border-none !text-share-icon outline-none hover:!text-share-icon-active sm:hidden\" data-title=\"\u2018F****** the players over\u2019 \u2013 Tennis legend calls for huge reform after Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina farce\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/button>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5 border-b border-page\"><\/div>\n<section>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5\">\n<figure class=\"aspect-h-9 aspect-w-16 relative\">\n                                        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1320\" height=\"742\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"w-full h-full object-cover object-center !my-0\" src=\"https:\/\/d2me2qg8dfiw8u.cloudfront.net\/content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3F909YW-1-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"Pictured: Canadian Open runner-up Elena Rybakina and champion Iga Swiatek\">                <\/figure><figcaption class=\"flex items-center space-x-3 border-b border-mobile-caption px-3 lg:border-caption\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-1.5 break-words !text-xs !text-content\">\n                                Tennis organisers have been slammed for their treatment of Canadian Open runner-up Elena Rybakina                             <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"ciam-article-t365\"><!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p>Tennis organisers have been accused of \u201cf******\u201d the players over with the much-maligned schedule.<\/p>\n<p>In Toronto last week, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/elena-rybakina\">Elena Rybakina<\/a> finally closed out a three-set thriller against Coco Gauff at 1 am, before having to come back for the final against Iga Swiatek the following evening.<\/p>\n<p>The Australian Open champion was outplayed by the rejuvenated Pole in a 6-2, 6-3 victory at the Canadian Open, but she did look somewhat fatigued for the showpiece event last Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>Players, pundits, and fans alike have heavily criticised the elongated Masters 1000 events, with many top stars either pulling out through injury or being exhausted by an increasingly physical sport that is exacting a heavy toll on their bodies.<\/p>\n<p>Now, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/rennae-stubbs\">Rennae Stubbs<\/a> has taken aim at tournament directors for not playing matches earlier in the day to maximise recovery and accusing them of not protecting the players.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>More WTA Tour News<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/aryna-sabalenka-cincinnati-open-record-wta-tour\">Aryna Sabalenka tops the WTA Tour in one key area after latest victory<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/coco-gauff-states-if-she-would-ever-play-carlos-alcaraz-in-a-singles-match\">Coco Gauff states if she would ever play Carlos Alcaraz in a singles match<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Want more from Tennis365? Add us as<span>\u00a0<\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\">a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a><span>\u00a0<\/span>for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>She said on the latest episode of her <a rel=\"noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/the-rennae-stubbs-tennis-podcast\/id1393881115\" target=\"_blank\">podcast<\/a>, \u201cI was thinking to myself when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/iga-swiatek\">Iga Swiatek<\/a> and Elena Rybakina played in the final, you guys had 10 days to finish this event.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd yet a player plays a semi-final and finishes at 1am and then has to come back the next day and play at 6pm. I do not understand how a sport can make one person suffer a lot more than the other and it\u2019s supposed to be equal. That is not fair.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy are you starting at 7pm plus when you have all f***** day to play a tennis match? Now, do you want to play in the evening because people can come after work or it\u2019s a little bit nicer of an experience and all that sort of stuff? Yeah, okay. But is Canada going to sell out in the day? Hell yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The final was pushed back an hour or so due to rain but Stubbs still insisted that it was unacceptable that the semi-final and final were played so close to one another.<\/p>\n<p>The Australian also said it was great to see Swiatek back to her best after a difficult year or so. But Rybakina was not at her usual high level and Stubbs blames the scheduling for that.<\/p>\n<p>The former world No 1 doubles player continued, \u201cNow, why wasn\u2019t she? Oh, I don\u2019t know. I would guarantee you, she did not go to bed, like I\u2019m talking sleep, until 3.30am-4am. And you expect that girl to get up when? What\u2019s the circadian rhythm of her sleep now? What\u2019s the rhythm of her practice? How does she feel?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIga probably finished and went to bed around midnight which is still not ideal for a tennis player to wake up and play a match the next day at 6pm. But I\u2019ll take that over 4am going to sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her co-host, Caitlyn Thompson, said that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/atp-tour\">ATP<\/a>, who \u201cspearheaded\u201d the idea for these lengthier tournaments, were so clear in articulating that the longer events would lead to more rest for the players.<\/p>\n<p>Thompson said this had proven to be \u201cfalse\u201d, with Stubbs adding, \u201cI start to wonder and think that people that put the events on, people that run the tournaments, people that run the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/wta-tour\">WTA<\/a> and ATP, have no idea what it takes to be a professional tennis player at their best.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStart the f****** match in the day. It just bothers me to the nth degree that we are still continually f****** the players over with schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>GO DEEPER: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/aryna-sabalenka-reveals-main-focus-cincinnati-open-latest-win\">Aryna Sabalenka responds when asked what she\u2019s trying to add to her game<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End --><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2018F****** the players over\u2019 \u2013 Tennis legend calls for huge reform after Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina farce Richie Mills 19 Aug 2026 6:30 PM Tennis organisers have been slammed for their treatment of Canadian Open runner-up Elena Rybakina Tennis organisers have been accused of \u201cf******\u201d the players over with the much-maligned schedule. In Toronto [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,249],"class_list":["post-2101372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-tennis365-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2101372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2101372"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2101372\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2101372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2101372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2101372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}