"If you suck and go out in first round, you may play even every week" - Fans slam Barbara Schett over Iga Swiatek’s comments on hectic scheduling

Barbara Schett has received criticism from tennis fans on the internet after commenting on Iga Swiatek's concerns about the scheduling. Swiatek, who is competing at the 2024 US Open, has reached the third round of the women's singles draw with straight-set wins over Kamilla Rakhimova and Ena Shibahara.

Notably, Swiatek found it hard to cross the line against Rakhimova in the first round, saving three out of the six break points the Russian created. After eventually securing a 6-4, 7-6(6) win on August 27, the Pole highlighted her hectic scheduling.

"I think players are aware that this is crazy what's going on, and the schedule is really tough... we have so many mandatory tournaments," Iga Swiatek said in a press conference in Flushing Meadows.

The World No. 1's remarks reportedly invited a reaction from Schett, who pivoted toward a career in media after playing tennis from 1992 to 2005.

Tennis fans on X (formerly Twitter) targeted Barbara Schett, who won three singles titles and reached a career-high ranking of World No. 7. One of the X (formerly Twitter) users mocked the former player's credentials, writing:

"She never made it past QF at slams. She won 3 tournaments in whole career. You can play 30 tournaments if you losing early."

"Genuinely need these former players to understand the current competition before frivolously commenting," a fan said.

Here are a few more reactions from X:

"From 1994-2004, Schett played an average 46 matches per season. Iga is already at 64 matches played in late August. In only one year did Schett play more than 64 matches (72 in 1999). Source: tennis abstract stats," one fan said.

"And I wonder how many of these she won? Oh right, 3 in singles, 10 in doubles. Meanwhile, Iga already won 22," another fan said.

"Doubt she played that many matches in a szn [season] considering she has 3 singles titles to her name," one fan said.

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Iga Swiatek: "I don't think our sport is going in the right direction"

Iga Swiatek (Getty)

As per the WTA guidelines, the top players are mandated to participate in 21 tournaments. These tournaments are the four Grand Slams, WTA Finals, 10 WTA 1000 competitions and six WTA 500 events.

In her US Open presser, Iga Swiatek further spoke on the mandatory tournaments list prepared by the WTA. She suggested the setup has been affecting tennis adversely, saying (per The Tennis Letter):

"These decisions about mandatory tournaments were shown to us, like, after. So we spoke to WTA about it that we want to at least be in the loop. But it would be nice for us to have some impact, because I don't think our sport is going in the right direction because of that."

Meanwhile, Iga Swiatek readies herself for a third-round meeting with Russia's Anastasiya Pavlyuchenkova in the 2024 US Open.