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Daria Kasatkina calling out the WTA over tight scheduling on the tour has garnered support from tennis fans.
After a dissapointing second-round exit at the Melbourne Major, Kasatkina has made a strong comeback at the Abu Dhabi Open. The Russian earned a hard-fought win over Beatriz Haddad Maia, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(2), on Saturday (February 10) to set up a title clash against top-seeded Elena Rybakina.
Kasatkina, who will face Rybakina on Sunday, will have to travel to Doha a day later to participate in the Qatar Open. The former World No. 8 is scheduled to play Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the WTA 1000 event's opener on Monday.
Following her semifinal win over Maia, Kasatkina reflected on her tight schedule. The Russian questioned the WTA and tournament organizers on whether their motive was to "make players die" or get them "injured often" with competitions coming thick and fast.
"I have a question, I don't know to who, to WTA or the tournaments, like are you guys trying to make players die or to get injured often. I might have to fly Monday and step on the court the same day after playing five matches here [Abu Dhabi] at the highest level. So, I'm sorry but that's something we have to talk about and consider," Kasatkina told the media.
Fans on social media sympathized with Kasatkina's plea. One fan appreciated the Russian for opening up about such an issue.
"I'm so glad the tour has @DKasatkina. I hope other players appreciate that she is one of only a handful of players with regular access to large pools of media who speaks so directly and unfiltered about issues like this," the fan wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Another fan labeled the scheduling on tour "ridiculous", as they wrote:
"She is absolutely right, that is ridiculous scheduling"
Here are a few more fan reactions:
"I'm not crying, I'm saying facts" - Daria Kasatkina on questioning the tight schedule
Daria Kasatkina further expressed hopes that her appeal on tight scheduling of the tour will get addressed by the concerned people.
Kasatkina maintained that she was not lamenting over the situation but stating "facts" on how it is "impossible" for players to play under such conditions.
"We're players, we're humans and we're trying to do our job the best we can. But under the circumstances, it's not easy. I hope this question will be addressed to the right people. And I'm not crying, I'm just saying the facts and the facts are saying that it's impossible, it cannot be like that," Kasatkina said.
Daria Kasatkina will be eying for her seventh title on the tour, when she faces Elena Rybakina in the Abu Dhabi Open final. The Kazakh defeated Liudmila Samsonova, 6-0, 4-6, 6-2, in the semifinals.
Kasatkina and Rybakina will meet for the fifth time on Sunday, with their previous meetings evenly split at 2-2.
