Tournament director Salah Tahlak has called for deducting ranking points from players who make last-minute withdrawals from events, in the wake of Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek pulling out of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
The world’s top two opted out of competing in Dubai this year, announcing their withdrawal late on Friday after the qualifying rounds had started.
Sabalenka, who lost in the Australian Open final to Elena Rybakina two weeks ago, pulled out of last week’s Qatar Open and was due to return to action in the UAE.
She posted a video of herself practicing on the courts at Atlantis the Royal hotel on Palm Jumeirah two days ago before she decided to withdraw from the Dubai tournament citing a right hip injury.
Meanwhile, Swiatek, who fell to Maria Sakkari in the Doha quarter-finals on Thursday, cited a change of schedule as her official reason to skip the Dubai event.
With 16 of the world’s top-20 stars still present in the Dubai field, Tahlak says he is certain the tournament will deliver high-quality matches, but he admits the withdrawals of Sabalenka and Swiatek came as a “surprise” and he believes the threat of deducting ranking points would discourage players from pulling out of big events at the 11th hour.
“It was an unfortunate surprise last night to get news of the withdrawal of Aryna and Iga. And the reasons for withdrawal were a bit strange. Iga said she wasn’t mentally ready to compete, while Sabalenka said she has some minor injuries,” Tahlak said after the draw ceremony on Saturday.
“So I don’t know. I think there should be a harsher punishment on the players [for withdrawing], not just fines, they should be docked ranking points.
“I even asked the [tournament] doctor, what is the injury? He said it’s a minor injury, not one that would force her to withdraw from the tournament. And for Iga, I asked, ‘Isn’t this a strange decision?’”
Dubai is one of 10 WTA 1000 mandatory tournaments on the tour’s schedule.
There are several consequences to withdrawing from a mandatory tournament, according to the WTA rulebook, including monetary fines – that could increase for repeat offenders – and receiving a ‘zero-pointer’ in your ranking.
Players citing injuries have to see a tournament doctor to confirm their physical ailment, while players can withdraw with a ‘change of schedule’ reason three times per season, which incurs a zero-pointer but no fine.
“I think a fine will not do anything,” Tahlak continued.
“I feel they should deduct points from the players. A monetary fine won’t help. Many years ago, Serena Williams withdrew and was fined $100,000. But what is $100,000? She would play someplace else and make $1,000,000. So the fine isn’t a big deal.
“We have a meeting coming up in Rome and I want to shed light on this issue. We have a representative on behalf of the international group [of tournaments] to speak for us with the WTA. Because it’s a shame that we’re spending these huge amounts to upgrade our facilities and in the end the players are the main part (of this tournament).”
In a separate interview with Al Bayan, Tahlak suggested players get docked 500 or 1000 points for making last-minute withdrawals.
“This will be felt more than a fine,” he added.
Sabalenka missing the Middle East swing this year was perhaps more surprising given she has just signed a new sponsorship deal with Dubai carrier Emirates last month at the Australian Open – something Tahlak alluded to as an additional reason for the world No 1 to compete in this year’s edition.
But overall, top players taking more control of their scheduling was an inevitable result of a jam-packed tennis calendar that leaves little breathing room for its main stars.
This year, the Middle East swing kicked off in Abu Dhabi on the same day as the Australian Open final, unlike previous years when there was a week separating the two.
That change made it more difficult for players wanting to compete in all three tournaments – Abu Dhabi (WTA 500), Doha (WTA 1000) and Dubai (WTA 1000) – taking place in the Gulf.
World No 5 Coco Gauff said on Sunday that no player takes the decision of pulling out of a WTA 1000 tournament lightly and the two-time Grand Slam champion doesn’t think that deducting ranking points would be fair.
“You look at burnout throughout the year. Although maybe it might not affect you now, it will affect you later,” said Gauff.
“I feel like for me, this part of the season I have always struggled, I think, just because of the transition and things like that.
“Do I think players should be docked points? Not really. We already have the mandatory. We get zeros on our ranking for everything. For this point in the schedule, I think it's hard to play all the tournaments now that they're two weeks. I think the ask of players are becoming more and more and more.”
WTA players are required to play four Grand Slams, 10 WTA 1000 tournaments and six WTA 500 events and, if they qualify, the WTA Finals, in a season. Many of the 1000-level tournaments have been expanded to 12 days, making the schedule even more difficult to navigate for players who make it deep in most events.
“I do understand the tournament side. They obviously want the players there. In the past I think top players have always come to Doha and Dubai. This draw has historically been a tough draw. I understand it's unfortunate this year,” said Gauff.
“I don't think it's fair for players to get docked points. I think, if anything, we should have an optional 1000 like the men do with Monte-Carlo. Yeah, I think that's a little bit harsh in my opinion.”
