Iga Swiatek, who is considered as the World’s number one tennis player made an announcement on 3rd of October 2022. In her announcement, she stated that she will not be playing in Billie Jean King Cup finals, which is going to take place in the upcoming month. The tournament is going to take place in Glasgow.
The player further mentioned the reason behind the withdrawal of her name and further raised the issue about the sports authorisation and their negligence in taking care of the tournament calendar.
As per reports, this renowned player always served as a helping hand to Poland, in order to make it to the finals in April. However, the tournament will be held from Nov. 8-13, which is just a day later the season-ending WTA Finals, which is going to take place in Fort Worth (Texas) in the current year.
The player shared the news on Instagram, “I was thinking it through a lot and discussing it with my team all over again, but I will not be able to play at the Billie Jean King Cup in Glasgow. And it makes me sad. I’m very sorry, because I play for Poland whenever it’s possible and I always give it my best. Playing in Poland this year was an honour and I hoped to do this again at the end of the season.”
She further shares her disappointment with the tournament’s schedule and bring out the fact about the organizers who didn’t pay much attention to the details and timings. As well she brought out the fact that such a schedule can also have a negative impact on the health of players.
Moreover, she mentioned that she would have a discussion with the WTA and the ITF, so that they look into the matter and reconsider changing the schedule. The Women’s Tennis Body are basically the organizers of the WTA Finals. On the other hand, Billie Jean King Cup, which was previously known as the Federation Cup is managed by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
Moreover, the tournament (Billie Jean King Cup) is said to have 12 teams, who are going to compete in four round-robin groups of three teams each. The group winners will be further moving to the semi-finals. Team of Poland is said to be in Group D with the Czech Republic and the United States.
