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World No. 13 Daria Kasatkina has offered a tongue-in-cheek response to a former tennis player's suggestion that players shouldn't discuss their scheduling issues.
The Russian has made a decent start to the hardcourt season, garnering six wins out of eight matches and making a quarterfinal appearance at the National Bank Open in Montreal. She is currently competing at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati.
Former tennis professional Kamil Patel recently gave some advice to players: that they should avoid raising concerns about their schedules. Responding with a touch of sarcasm, Kasatkina asked the tennis enthusiast to attend work at 3 a.m.
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"See you at work at 3am, and no whining pls," Daria Kasatkina said.
Numerous players have expressed their grievances about the demanding schedule this year. Notable figures like World No. 1 Iga Swiatek, 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, and Belarusian veteran Victoria Azarenka have voiced their concerns, urging the WTA to address the issue and prioritize player recovery.
Rybakina found herself physically drained after concluding a match at the early hour of 3 a.m. in Montreal last week. Azarenka, meanwhile, conveyed her disappointment at the lack of positive changes for the collective benefit of players.
The 34-year-old, who is on the WTA Player Council, emphasized the uniqueness of tennis, where players often lack clarity about their match timings.
"I absolutely lost it yesterday because we work so hard in the Players Council and I just felt so frustrated, like I’m not making a difference and I put a lot of time, a lot of effort.. I try to be reasonable, I try to compromise, I try to create ideas and we are moving at the slowest pace to get things done," Azarenka said.
"This is the only sport in the world where you don’t know when you’re going to play.. I look at it as a player, and it’s ridiculous. I look at it as a fan, and I don’t know which matches I’m going to go watch because I have no clue, unless you’re very fanatical, but we need to appeal to a bigger crowd to watch our sport," she added.
Daria Kasatkina to square off against Aryna Sabalenka in R3 of the Western and Southern Open
World No. 13 Daria Kasatkina will take on World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka in the third round of the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati.
Sabalenka leads the head-to-head against Kasatkina 3-2. In their most recent encounter, at the 2022 Silicon Valley Classic, it was the Belarusian who emerged triumphant.
In Cincinnati, Daria Kasatkina got the better of lucky loser Varvara Gravecha in the second round while Sabalenka outclassed American qualifier Ann Li in an absorbing three-set contest. Both players will be determined to maintain their winning run and continue to build momentum ahead of the US Open.
The winner of this tie will take on either fifth seed Ons Jabeur or Donna Vekic in the quarterfinals.
