Daria Kasatkina known as out the WTA and organisers of the tour’s member tournaments for “horrible scheduling” after she booked her place within the Abu Dhabi Open ultimate with a gruelling three-hour victory over Beatriz Haddad Maia on Saturday.
Kasatkina will face top-seeded Elena Rybakina within the title decider on Sunday and is due on court docket the next day in Doha for her opening-round conflict with fellow Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on the Qatar Open.
It’s a scenario Kasatkina described as “unfair” to the gamers, noting that it may end in an elevated threat of damage.
“It’s horrible scheduling, actually,” stated Kasatkina, who is thru to her second ultimate of the season after a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7/2) win over Brazil’s Haddad Maia.
“I don’t know how one can schedule the finals of the event on Sunday, wanting to complete the subsequent event on Saturday, so that you begin it on Sunday, and like this, the participant, if like me, you don’t have a bye in Doha, I’ve to play on Monday. And I play finals tomorrow at 5pm.
“We don’t have but this expertise that I can simply do like this (snaps her fingers) and be in Doha in 5 seconds.”
Kasatkina is not sure whether or not she is going to be capable of catch a flight on Sunday night time from Abu Dhabi to Doha and has urged the tour and event organisers to contemplate adjusting the schedule transferring ahead.
“I’ve a query, I don’t know to who, to WTA or the tournaments, like, are you guys making an attempt to make gamers die, or to get injured usually?” requested Kasatkina.
“I may need to fly Monday and step on the court docket the identical day, after enjoying 5 matches right here on the highest stage. So I’m sorry however that’s one thing we have now to speak about and take into account.”
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‘I’m not crying’
Kasatkina, who will likely be focusing on the seventh title of her profession on Sunday, and first since 2022, acknowledges there may be nothing that may be performed for this yr’s scheduling, given the first-round byes have already been set for the Qatar Open, with no probability for a efficiency bye to be added for her.
“We’re gamers, we’re people and we’re making an attempt to do our job the most effective we will. However underneath the circumstances it’s not very simple,” added the 26-year-old.
“I hope this query will likely be addressed to the proper individuals. And I’m not crying, I’m simply saying the information and the information are saying that it’s unimaginable, it can’t be like that.”
In the meantime, Rybakina won’t face the identical scheduling difficulty introduced up by Kasatkina, given she is a top-eight seed in Doha and has been awarded a first-round bye.
The previous Wimbledon champion overcame final yr’s Abu Dhabi runner-up Liudmila Samsonova 6-0, 4-6, 6-2 to maneuver into her second ultimate of the season. It was Rybakina’s first win in 5 conferences in opposition to Samsonova and she is going to now look to seize her second trophy of 2024.
“It was a extremely robust battle and I’m actually comfortable that I managed to win ultimately. I began fairly effectively the match, a number of pictures went my method, however within the second set my focus went just a little down,” stated Rybakina.
“It’s going to be a really robust match in opposition to Kasatkina. A very totally different model of the sport. I’ve to have actually good footwork and play aggressively.”