“They finally listened” – Iga Swiatek praises new United Cup schedule

Iga Swiatek has been very vocal in recent months about the rigours of life on tour – not least the difficulty of long-haul travel between tournaments and the lack of rest days.

So when she has words of praise, you know she means them – and she had lots of nice things to say about the way the organisers of the United Cup have amended the schedule for 2024.

Poland reached the semi-finals of the 2023 edition, where they lost 5-0 to the United States in Sydney, on January 6th and 7th. They had played their previous matches in Brisbane, finishing on January 4th.

This year, they are playing their group matches and quarter-final in Perth, but having won their last-eight tie against China 3-0, they now have time off prior to the Sydney knock-out matches, which begin on January 6th.

“I’m really happy that United Cup kind of listened to our feedback and are supporting us in terms of giving us time to get used to the new conditions,” the world No 1 said in a press conference alongside her Team Poland colleague Hubert Hurkacz and captain Tomasz Wiktorowski.

“Last year I remember the court in Sydney was a little bit different. Also it’s hard to, like, obviously was two hours of travel for us, but you have to pack, you have to unpack, spending the night at a different hotel. It feels different and you’re not in the routine and in the rhythm.”

Swiatek: Last year I couldn’t find my game

She added: “I’m really happy that United Cup and everybody that organised this tournament listened to us because there were many feedbacks that were the same as ours. I felt for sure last year like I couldn’t find my game suddenly.

“Hopefully this year is going to be a little bit better. We’ll do our best to use that one day of practice or maybe two, I don’t know yet, to get used to the court.”

Swiatek has opted not to play the Billie Jean King Cup finals for the past two years because of the overlap with the WTA Finals.

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