After an incredibly close match with 17-year-old Russian Mirra Andreyeva, Iga Świątek advanced to the semi-finals of the tournament WTA 1000 on hard courts in Cincinnati. Shelf After a three-set, two-hour, 40-minute match, she won 4:6, 6:3, 7:5. – The fans watching the match experienced huge emotions Iga ¦wi±tek's match with the sensational, 17-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva in the quarterfinals of the WTA 1000 tournament on hard courts in Cincinnati. About the victory after a match lasting almost three hours the incredible ending of the third set was decisive! – wrote Sport.pl in the match report.
Kafelnikov's bizarre words about Świątek. Experts criticize the Russian
After the match with Andreyeva, Iga Świątek revealed the problem that female tennis players face on the world tour.
– I think we have too many tournaments in the season. It won't end well. It makes tennis less enjoyable for us. We deserve to rest a little more – said Iga Świątek, for whom the event in Cincinnati is already the fourteenth this season! Just because of fatigue the best tennis player in the world two weeks ago she withdrew from the WTA 1000 tournament in Toronto.
Evgeny Kafelnikov, a former Russian tennis player, two-time winner of Grand Slam tournaments (Roland Garros 1996 and Australian Open 2009) and Olympic singles champion from Sydney, reacted in a bizarre way to Świątek's words.
– Is someone forcing you to play? All you f***ing do is complain! I'll tell you what you deserve! You deserve a much lower salary than you get now! What do you think about that? – wrote Kafelnikov on the X portal.
Other experts had a completely different opinion than the Russian.
– I certainly understand Iga Świątek's concerns about playing in too many tournaments, especially when you're going deep in tournaments week in and week out. Add the Olympics to that. It's an important topic – wrote Chris Evert, winner of 18 Grand Slam singles titles, on X.
Kafelnikow was strongly criticized by journalists.
– Pathetic approach – wrote Jose Morgado, one of the best foreign journalists specializing in tennis.
– There's nothing like a former tennis player (a guy, of course) who stopped playing over 20 years ago, who knows better what the leader of the WTA world ranking deserves, when she explains what doesn't suit her on the current tour – added Adam Romer, editor-in-chief of Tenisklub.
When we wrote the text on Saturday evening about Iga Świątek's words, we also ran a poll with the question: “Are there too many WTA tournaments?” As many as 1,250 readers (83 percent) answered yes.
Świątek will play in a Grand Slam tournament this season US Openin the year-ending WTA Finals and most likely in the tournaments in Beijing and Tokyo (last year she won in Beijing and in Tokyo she was eliminated in the quarterfinals).
Already on Sunday, the Polish woman will play in the semifinals in Cincinnati. In the big hit she will face Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka (3. WTA). Live coverage on Sport.pl and in the Sport.pl LIVE application.