Brisbane International: Aryna Sabalenka says players are ‘not protected’ over ‘insane’ tennis schedule

World number one Aryna Sabalenka says tennis authorities “follow their interests” with regards to the tennis calendar and are not “focusing on protecting all of us”.

Players have been raising concerns about the schedule in recent months, saying it is too long and intense.

Leading players on the women’s tour are expected to play at least 20 mandatory events – four Grand Slams, 10 WTA 1000s and six 500s.

Belarusian Sabalenka said she would skip some events this year to protect her body.

“The season is definitely insane, and you see so many players getting injured,” Sabalenka said after her 6-3 6-3 victory over Sorana Cirstea at the Brisbane International.

“The balls are quite heavy, so it’s a lot of struggle for all of us.”

Sabalenka and world number two Iga Swiatek were deducted ranking points for not playing enough WTA 500 events last season.

I’m skipping a couple of events in order to protect my body because I struggled a lot last season,” Sabalenka, 27, added.

“Even though the results were really consistent, some of the tournaments I had been playing completely sick or I’ve 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.”

The WTA Tour has said player welfare will “always remain a top priority”.