Iga Swiatek goes against rivals in WTA row as rule change causes controversy

Iga Swiatek has gone against the grain following a row over the reintroduction of performance byes on the WTA Tour. Both Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina slammed the rule change, which gives a pass into the second round for players who went deep at a tournament the week before. But Swiatek claimed it was the right decision despite missing out on a ranking bye as a result, saying it “didn’t matter”.

Performance byes have been causing controversy in recent weeks as the WTA has reintroduced a rule that allows players who reach the semi-final of a tournament the week before to get a pass to the second round in the following tournament. Previously, the top seeds at each event would get to bypass the first round.

While players like Rybakina have shared their frustration over the new rule, Swiatek has bucked the trend as she backed the WTA’s decision to implement the performance byes. The four-time Grand Slam champion was one of the players who would have regularly received a ranking bye at the WTA 1000 in Beijing but didn’t because those who went deep in Tokyo last week received them instead.

But the second seed wasn’t fussed despite experiencing the performance byes for the first time in her young career. She explained: “I didn’t really dig into this rule so much because these are the first tournaments that I’m playing where it’s possible to get this kind of thing. But it’s been on tour for a long time.”