Iga Swiatek’s reign at the top has finally ended. Earlier today, Aryna Sabalenka displaced the Polish star in the WTA rankings table and became the new World Number 1. While Swiatek has been away from the court since her quarterfinal defeat against Jessica Pegula at the US Open, Sabalenka has enjoyed a winning run of late. However, recent form isn’t the only factor behind Sabalenka’s rise to the top, as a controversial WTA rule has also come to light.

While there are as many as 10 mandatory WTA 1000 tournaments, the women’s body also requires players to play in the 6 mandatory WTA 500 tournaments. The move has been widely debated, with players calling out the grueling schedule which takes a toll on their physical and mental health. There are as many as 17 WTA 500 tournaments played in a season and players have to compulsorily play in six of them.

Sabalenka has already played in four WTA 500 tournaments this season, Brisbane International, Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Ecotrans Ladies Open, and the Citi Open. Swiatek has played in just 2 WTA 500 tournaments, the United Cup and the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. As a result, Swiatek has lost out on crucial WTA ranking points, which has affected her downgrade from the top spot to the second position.

The Polish journalist Dominik Senkowski raised objections over the mandatory WTA 500 rule, saying, “The problem is not that Iga Świątek is falling to second place in the ranking, because that was predictable, Sabalenka deserved to be in the lead. The problem is the controversial rules of the WTA ranking construction. 6 mandatory WTA 500 events (XD), the requirement to play every now and then for the best.”

Sabalenka has also faced the zero-pointer penalty for not featuring in 6 WTA 500 events, much like Swiatek, but the only difference is she has lost only 10 points, as compared to Swiatek’s 120. The zero-pointer penalty nullifies the lowest ranking points earned by a player from a tournament. While in Swiatek’s case, the lowest she earned was 120 points with a fourth round exit in Miami, for Sabalenka, the lowest was 10 points with a second round exit at the Dubai Tennis Championships.

With the modern day tennis schedule being so hectic, it’s not easy for the players to fulfil participation obligations. Many players, including Iga Swiatek, have strongly criticized the WTA for the scheduling mess already. Earlier today, it was Sloane Stephens who let her feelings out.

Sloane Stephens joins Iga Swiatek in voicing her concerns

With a growing number of mandatory tournaments, there is hardly any breathing space left for the players. This eventually results in their physical and mental health taking a toll and not many players are able to escape injury-free from the grueling season. As a result, Sloane Stephens voiced her concerns over the hectic schedule as well.

She said, “Like you’re just there because like if you don’t want to sign or you don’t you’re supposed to be or you enter the tournament or you don’t have any more withdrawals like you’re just like I’m present but I’m not like mentally and not here, but I feel like that’s just kind of one of the bad things about the tour. Both tours ATP and WTA, is that you’re kind of forced to play, even when you’re probably not in the best mental capacity, you’re probably not the best physical shape, or you might be injured or whatever it is, and you just arrive because that’s what you’re supposed to do.”

Earlier, Swiatek also expressed concerns, saying that playing more tournaments will make tennis less interesting. It might be the time for the tennis authorities to take players’ concerns into account and find a solution. Do you feel that the WTA should scrap the mandatory rule in the WTA 500 events? Let us know your views in the comments below.