The world No 1 expects to skip events again this year and face likely sanctions rather than put her health at risk.
Published On 8 Jan 2026
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World number one Aryna Sabalenka has accused tennis authorities of “following their interests” and failing to put player welfare first over what she called an “insane” tennis season.
The Belarusian expects to skip events this year rather than put her health at risk over the course of the season, even though she knows she is likely to be sanctioned by the WTA Tour for doing so, the world number one said on Thursday.
Top players are obliged to compete in all four Grand Slams, 10 WTA 1000 tournaments and six WTA 500 events under WTA rules, with the punishment for missing them ranging from rankings points deductions to fines.
In 2025, Sabalenka competed in just three WTA 500 events – Brisbane, Stuttgart and Berlin – making her one of several high-ranked players, including world number two Iga Swiatek, to be docked ranking points.
Asked if she would change her plans for 2026, the four-time Grand Slam champion told reporters: “The season is definitely insane, and that’s not good for all of us, as you see so many players getting injured …
“The rules are quite tricky with mandatory events, but I’m still skipping a couple of events in order to protect my body, because I struggled a lot last season,” she said after beating Sorana Cirstea at the Brisbane International.
“Even though the results were really consistent, some of the tournaments I had been playing completely sick or I’d been really exhausted from overplaying. This season, we will try to manage it a little bit better, even though they are going to fine me by the end of the season.
“But it’s tricky to do that. You cannot skip 1000 events. It’s really tricky, and I think that’s insane what they do. I think they just follow their interests, but they’re not focusing on protecting all of us.”
The number of events in the tennis calendar has been a frequent complaint in recent months among the sport’s biggest names.
Men’s world number one Carlos Alcaraz is another to have voiced concern about the amount of tennis he plays, although he has also signed up to feature in lucrative exhibition matches.
He faces great rival Jannik Sinner in one such event on Saturday in South Korea, barely a week before the Australian Open.
The men’s and women’s circuits have faced criticism due to their 11-month seasons, and both tours came under new scrutiny during the “Asian swing” towards the end of last year, with injuries piling up.
