Iga Swiatek 'doesn't care' about controversial French Open issue her rivals are blasting
Iga Swiatek had her say on one aspect of the French Open garnering criticism.
Iga Swiatek said “I don’t care” when she was asked about a major issue at the French Open affecting the women.
Ons Jabeur has been among the players calling out the scheduling at the tournament, with female stars snubbed from every single prime-time night session slot so far. The world No. 9 even claimed Swiatek’s match against Naomi Osaka should have been top billing.
But Swiatek prefers to play in the day session. And she thought it was better to ask someone else about the schedule.
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“Honestly, sorry to say that, but I don't care, because I'm honestly just focusing on my matches,” the world No. 1 said when asked if French Open schedulers let the women’s game down. “And I like playing during the day, so it's comfortable for me that I can be scheduled that way.
Swiatek also thought there were other details involved in the order of play, adding: “I think it's better to ask someone who is responsible for scheduling, at picking these matches. Probably there are many factors coming in, a lot of requests, you know.”
The four-time Grand Slam champion did think it would be nice for players to have more of a say in picking when they played. But she was happy to avoid the night session altogether. “I mean, for me, I'm feeling comfortable playing during the day,” she continued.
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“If I would say that, you know, it's wrong for woman's tennis, I wouldn't really, you know, say anything that would make my tennis schedule more comfortable, but it would be nice obviously to play and pick hours.”
Although Jabeur thought Swiatek deserved the prime time slot for her second-round match against fellow four-time Major winner Osaka, the Pole understood why they didn’t get it. She explained: “I understand some decisions, like, for example, me and Naomi being in the day when Richard Gasquet played during the night, for me it's kind of obvious that French player might have priority in terms of night session.
“So, yeah, I think it's better to ask somebody who is responsible for scheduling, but I'm fine with playing during the day.” Swiatek has previously admitted that she prefers playing in the daytime so she can get to bed at a more reasonable hour.
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Explaining why her sleep pattern was so important, she added: “Honestly, for me, it's kind of a priority. So I had years when everything could throw me off my rhythm and then I couldn't go to sleep. I worked pretty hard to be able to, you know, just chill down and not get too stressed the day before, as well.
“So for me, it's really important. I feel like, you know, the bodies of any of us are more ready to have the peak of the activity during the day, because most of you guys also work during the day like most of the population, obviously there are people working night shifts, but here I feel like, I don't know, I can adjust to anything.”
But she isn’t entirely averse to night matches. “I played many night sessions that were good for me, but it's always comfortable going back to the hotel at six and being able to have a normal night, so yeah. But now I wouldn't say that night sessions are throwing me off the same way as couple of years ago. I can adjust to anything,” Swiatek said.
