Defiant Sabalenka braces for sanctions in WTA calendar spat

World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka is preparing to cop potential sanctions from the WTA after defying the ruling body on an overcrowded tournament calendar.

The winner of four Grand Slam titles – including two of the last three Australian Opens – has said she will skip one or more required 1000-level events over the season to avoid burnout and injury.

The box office firepower that Sabalenka brings is formidable and the showdown is sure to get ugly, with financial and other types of punishments presumably in the WTA arsenal.

Sabalenka and hot rival Iga Swiatek have both been docked ranking points this season for missing required tournaments with likely more to come in 2026.

 Sabalenka lost a combined 130 points while Swiatek was penalised 173. Other top names who suffered a similar fate included reigning Grand Slam winner Coco Gauff, and Madison Keys while 2025 Wimbledon and US Open finalist Amanda Anisimova also copped a wrist-slap.

“The rules are quite tricky with mandatory events, but I’m still doing that, like, I’m skipping couple events in order to protect my body, because I struggled a lot last season,” the current Brisbane semi-finalist said.

“Even though the results were really consistent, but some of the tournaments I had been playing completely sick or I’ve been really exhausted from overplaying,” she added.”

Sabalenka added: “So this season we will try to manage it a little bit better, even though they are going to fine me by the end.

“But it’s tricky to do that. You cannot skip like 1000 event. It’s really tricky, and I think that’s insane what they do. I think they just follow their interests, but they’re not focusing on protecting all of us.”

“Well, the season is definitely insane, and that’s not good for all of us, as you see so many players getting injured and also the balls are quite heavy, so it’s a lot, yeah, a lot of struggle for all of us,”

Main photo:- Ayrna Sabalenka with 2024 Australian Singles title by International Sports Fotos