Swiatek complains about a lack of player power

Iga Swiatek remains perplexed about the huge lack of influence top players have on WTA decisions after passing her first hurdle at the Madrid Masters.

The world No. 1 reached the third round of the Roland Garros run-up event 6-1, 6-4 over Chinese outsider Wang Xinyu. 

But the pacesetting Pole remains concerned that player opinions remain a mere afterthought for WTA bosses.

Of major concern is the scheduling of the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia as result of a huge WTA deal cut this spring with the regime.

While Swiatek, a strong supporter of neighbouring Ukraine in the war with Russia, has yet to pass a definitive opinion on the abrupt calendar change, she still admits that top players have little voice in the WTA boardroom in Florida.

“I’ve learned that, no matter how many meetings we have, we do not have any decision-making power,” she said in Madrid

“We travel to many places, I try to focus on my tennis and I don’t have space in my head to think about other things.

“But I’ll see what (info) I find there (in Saudi), because there are still several months left (before the Finals).”

The 22-year-old said that after being burned she has stepped back from  involvement in tennis politics.

“Last year I was very involved with everything related to politics in sport and this year I prefer to focus on myself. 

I have a lot of things to work on myself, but I also want to give my opinion when it is something important, but now I only know “They’re talking about rumours.”

She added that working with the WTA is far from easy.

“It’s uncomfortable. We have had a couple of situations where it would be good for the WTA to take lessons from what happened, such as the changes in mandatory WTA tournaments. 

“It’s a little hard for us because these are important issues for our calendar and our recovery time. 

“I hope everything changes. We will have more meetings, but I want to discover the influence we will have on these decisions.”