By Richard Pagliaro Thursday, January 8, 2026
Photo credit: Matthew Chamlin
No. 1 in the world Alina Sabalenka She has a bullseye on her back when her opponents try to topple her.
But the reigning U.S. Open champion said her reign faces a more subtle threat: what she believes is a “crazy” WTA schedule that could endanger players’ health.
Speaking to the media in Brisbane after beating Sorana Sistia 6-3, 6-3, Sabalenka was asked if she planned to emulate Serena Williams, who skipped several tournaments later in her career to focus on the Grand Slams.
Brisbane champion Sabalenka says WTA rules are designed to punish players who skip the mandatory 500 or 1000 level tournaments.
“Well, this season has been absolutely crazy and it’s not good for all of us because you see a lot of players getting injured and the ball is heavy, so it’s been a lot, yeah, a lot of struggles for all of us,” Sabalenka said. “But what Serena did, the rules are different. Now, like last season, at the end of the season, because I didn’t play enough 500 games, they deducted points from us, me and Iga.
“So if you play seven events, even if you win — well, if you win them all,
Then maybe it’s not a big deal. But you couldn’t predict that I would compete in seven events, that I would win them all, and that would be it. “
Sabalenka’s comments echoed criticism leveled at the end of last season by world number two Iga Swiatek, suggesting she would skip mandatory events in 2026 and pay a fine imposed by the WTA as she must work to maintain health and fitness.
Swiatek pointed out that the WTA’s mandatory tournament rules, which require top players to participate in 10 WTA 1000 events, 5 WTA 500 events and 4 Grand Slam events, are excessive and may be harmful to health.
Swiatek called the demands “pretty crazy” and said players have a responsibility to protect their own health, which could mean she opts out of some future games.
“It was impossible to squeeze it into the schedule,” Swiatek said.
“I think we have to be smart about this, unfortunately, and not get too caught up in the rules and think about what’s healthy for us.”
Likewise, Sabalenka said she will also skip some mandatory matches this season because a full schedule would leave her “exhausted” and possibly injured. Sabalenka said the tour doesn’t really care about protecting players’ health.
“The rules for mandatory events are pretty tricky, but I still do it, like, to protect my body, I’ll skip a few events because I struggled last season,” Sabalenka said. “Although the results were really solid, some of the races I did were completely sick or
I’m really tired from playing.
“So this season we’re going to try to manage it better, even though they’re going to fine me at the end of the season. But it’s tricky. You can’t skip like 1,000 games. It’s really tricky and I think what they’re doing is crazy. I think they’re just following their own interests, but they’re not focused on protecting all of us.”
Critics say that if Sabalenka really cared about staying healthy, why would she compete in lucrative offseason exhibition games at Madison Square Garden and Dubai and face Nick Kyrgios in a “Battle of the Sexes” exhibition?
Sabalenka played in 16 tournaments and 75 singles matches in 2025. That’s five more games than the 70 games Sabalenka will play in 2024.
The question is: Is it sustainable for Sabalenka, who typically plays deep in nearly every event she competes in, to play 70-plus games in a season and stay healthy? She appears to have concluded that’s not the case and will limit her schedule for 2026.
