The 2024 WTA Rule Book suggests that players will be committed to participating in a minimum number of tournaments. Players with acceptance into the main draw at six or more WTA 500 tournaments will now have to play at least six of them.
This has opened up the possibility of top-ranked players participating in a minimum of 20 tournaments per season if they are to play every WTA 1000 event and Grand Slam.
Tennis fans on social media expressed displeasure with the latest updates. One fan blamed the association for ‘exploiting’ the players.
“Luckily not all 1000s are mandatory and so far Wuhan hasn’t been confirmed. Regardless, this is a CRAZY schedule. If you go deep, it’s basically impossible to do. WTA wants to exploit them till exhaustion,” the fan wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Another user cited Iga Swiatek as an example to opine that players would have to fake injuries to evade the new regulation.
“It’ll be fake injuries all the way. Iga [Swiatek]’s been doing this already w/her “oh no I got a shoulder injury!” And then forgetting all abt it a week later. It’s literally the only viable way to cope lmao,” the fan’s post read.
Here are a few more fan reactions:
