Rybakina has little hope of change to tennis schedule

Former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina said Friday she agreed with Aryna Sabalenka's description of the tennis schedule as "insane" -- but does not see it changing.

Speaking after her surprise loss to Karolina Muchova in the Brisbane International, world number five Rybakina said Sabalenka's criticism of the packed WTA Tour calendar was correct.

WTA rules stipulate that top players must play all four Grand Slams, 10 WTA 1000 events and six WTA 500 tournaments, unless they have a valid reason such as injury.

Players who don't meet these requirements risk being fined.

Sabalenka said Thursday that she was prepared to be punished by the WTA in order to rest her body and not risk injury. 

"The season is definitely insane," four-time Grand Slam champion Sabalenka said.

Rybakina, who beat Sabalenka to win last year's season-ending WTA Finals, said players should be able to choose their schedules more freely.

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"We all want to have more freedom of choosing what to play, what not to play," said the Moscow-born Kazakh, the 2022 Wimbledon winner.

"You're kind of forced to play most of the tournaments, so it is not ideal.

"You don't need to force anyone to play so many tournaments since it's so tough on the body.

"It's not easy to show the same good results, be healthy all the time. 

"But it's a topic which we have had for a long time, and I don't see much changing."

The WTA told AFP in October that "athlete welfare is always a top priority".

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