A tennis legend defends Swiatek and Sabalenka from the director of the WTA Dubai

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Salah Tahlak, director of the WTA 1000 in Dubai, has been making headlines in recent days by demanding a severe punishment for Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek for withdrawing from his tournament at the last minute. Many figures in the tennis world have come to the defense of the Belarusian and Polish players, with the latest being Andy Roddick, who has criticized Salah's stance.

Through his podcast Served, the former American tennis player has absolved the number one and number two players in the WTA ranking, who withdrew from the tournament due to different physical issues that, according to Tahlak, were not severe enough. However, Roddick finds this decision completely understandable and questions how the director of such an important tournament can demand that they lose ranking points on top of the financial penalty they will already receive.

"My favorite part is when people say that, when it suits them, they are independent contractors and cannot pay salaries. So, they are independent contractors, but if they decide not to play this week, are we going to deduct ranking points from them? It's a shame, but we play a full schedule. You are the one pushing for a WTA 1000 designation in that region in February. Players will withdraw, especially those aiming for Grand Slams and the number one position. It will happen," he concluded.

Swiatek and Sabalenka, the first of a long list of withdrawals in Dubai

Right after the Australian Open, hosting two consecutive WTA 1000 events has its consequences, and indeed the numbers don't lie. Shortly after criticizing Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka, Salah Tahlak witnessed a stream of seeded players withdrawing from the tournament, along with several significant withdrawals. In fact, more than half of the players registered in the final draw either withdrew before taking the court or during the match. Coincidence?

The Dubai director has not made any further comments on the matter, but his intention to deduct points from players making this decision was deemed illogical by Roddick. "So, do you want to take away points they earned elsewhere? They earned them. Are you going to deduct points from six months ago? How is that possible?" a visibly impassioned Roddick expressed. In fact, Swiatek and Sabalenka will lose the points they earned in the tournament last year in addition to the financial penalty, punishment enough.

"Every single point they currently have is earned by winning matches, and now you're going to deduct points? I don't think that's very well thought out. It doesn't seem logical to me. You're going to take away money, so you're going to take that because they can't play your tournament for some reason, that's already strange, and then you're going to take away points. That makes no sense," he concluded. In fact, Elena Rybakina became the top seed after the withdrawals of Iga and Aryna, and today she had to retire prematurely as well, so Salah should reconsider his tournament if he wants it to go better next year.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Una leyenda del tenis defiende a Swiatek y Sabalenka del director del WTA Dubái