Fans are outraged by Elena Rybakina’s coach’s comments on the WTA, claiming that Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka should have stopped competing since the grass season.
Tennis enthusiasts reacted negatively to Stefano Vukov, Elena Rybakina’s coach, for his comments about the WTA.
Following Rybakina’s withdrawal from the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Japan, Vukov made his remarks.
Rybakina recently announced that she would not be competing in the WTA 500 match because she wanted to put her physical health first.
Given her earlier criticism of the WTA for giving out performance byes, which led to her losing her customary first-round bye despite being the third seed, the 24-year-old’s choice caused controversy.
Stefano Vukov, Elena Rybakina’s coach, vented his frustration on social media in the wake of her withdrawal, pointing out the WTA’s opaque performance bye policies and general lack of accountability.
He also criticized the WTA’s operational practices, saying that athletes who have already qualified for the 2023 WTA Finals shouldn’t be compelled to compete in tournaments in order to avoid penalties.
Why should the majority of players even compete before Cancun when they have already qualified for the final eight?
The main reason for this is that failure to participate in most tournaments results in fines for the players.
Players are always held responsible for the results, he wrote.
Many spectators disagreed with Vukov’s position, especially the notion that athletes should cease competing after advancing to the year-end championships.
They noted that Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka might have been able to skip a significant portion of the season on that basis.
“Does he just want players to skip months of play because they’ve made YEC? Aryna and iga had it clinched by like july.
“, a follower remarked.
Iga and Aryna should have given up playing altogether and simply waited for Cancun since grass season, according to this logic.
Simply check your emails, and stop acting like a victim of everything, suggested another supporter.
Another supporter questioned what would happen if athletes like Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev used a comparable “nonsensical argument” to excuse their absence from competitions.
Imagine Swiatek making this absurd claim after Roland Garros last year: “Why should players who have already qualified for the YEC even compete before Cancun? Or Alcaraz this year following Wimbledon. Or Medvedev at this moment.
“, wrote the fan.
Four of the eight coveted spots for the 2023 WTA Finals, which will be held in Cancun, Mexico, from October 29 to November 5, have been secured by Elena Rybakina, Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, and Coco Gauff.
Sabalenka has once again qualified for the year-end championships with 8,210 points to her name.
With 6,905 points so far this season, Swiatek is also scheduled to compete in the event for the third time.
Gauff, the current US Open champion, has 5,620 points and has qualified for the year-end competition.
With 5,476 points, Elena Rybakina, who is the first Kazakh woman to qualify for the WTA Finals, has accomplished the feat for the first time in her career.
