After rushing from a Saturday finals loss in Germany to a Sunday training day at Wimbledon, Iga Swiatek is feeling the pressure of a packed-out tennis calendar.

The five-time Grand Slam champion whose Wimbledon best was a quarter-final two years ago has called again for a rationalising of WTA duties, with players constantly moving from one event to the next on a nearly nonstop basis.

“For me the scheduling is pretty intense. I think people would still watch tennis, maybe even more, if we played less tournaments,” the Pole said a day after losing the Bad Homburg final to Jessica Pegula.

“The quality, for example, would be better or we would be more consistent because of that (reduction of calendar pressure).”

Swiatek, who is ranked eighth after not winning a title since Roland Garros last season, added that the tennis grind is getting more and more demanding.

“This is for sure challenging. But tennis is a difficult sport overall.. every week you start kind of from the beginning.

“Every week can tell you if you’re a great player or you sucked this week, you know.

“I think the scheduling is too intense. There’s no point for us to play, like, over 20 tournaments in a year.

“Sometimes we need to sacrifice playing for your country because we need to keep up with playing these WTA 500s, for example, because we’re going to get a zero (points) in the ranking.

But amid her cry for help is a saving grace: “You always have to have in the back of your mind that tennis is not your whole life. 

“You’ve got to give some perspective and also be proud of sometimes even when you don’t win, because only one person out of the whole tournament wins.”

Iga Swiatek stands a win away from her first career grass court final – but faces the challenge of former Wimbledon finalist Jasmine Paolini in the next round.

Poland’s former world No. 1 – a five-time Grand Slam champion – is fighting to emerge from what would be considered a slump at her elite level; She has yet to win a title this season and has not lifted a trophy since Roland Garros 12 months ago.  

Swiatek booked her semi-final place on the WTA grass at Bad Homburg on Thursday over  Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 7-6 (5) in their quarter-final

Italian Paolini defeated Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia 7-5, 7-5.

Swiatek has never lost to Paolini, entering the semi-final with a 4-0 record in the series as they face off on grass for the first time.

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Swiatek said she had to work to get past Alexandrova: “I already lost against her, so I knew she could make amazing tennis.

“For sure, her flat shots fit really well on the grass,” she said after saving three break points in victory.

The match was interrupted by rain, during which Swiatek passed the time doing crosswords in the locker room at 4-3 in the second set.

“Today, it was all about adjusting to the conditions, because it was super windy for most of the match,” she said.

“We both tried to do what we can — on the one hand, be intense, but on the other hand play it safe.”

2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez has the chance to extend her run of winning at least one title in each of the past three seasons when she takes on Katerina Siniakova in Sunday’s WTA Hong Kong final.

The Canadian who claimed trophies in Mexico in 2021 and 2022, earned her first finals spots since March, 2022, defeating Anna Blinkova 6-2, 7-5; 

The 85th-ranked Czech Siniakova beat Italy’s Martina Trevisan 6-3, 6-2 in their semi at the iconic Victoria Park venue in the heart of the city.

Fernandez, who lost the open final two years ago to Emma Raducanu, called her semi-final win extremely tough,” 

“Anna’s a tremendous player, very powerful, and she’s coming in with a lot of confidence.

“The first set I played well, the second set she started making more balls and being very aggressive.

“I just tried to stay calm. I remembered my coach’s words to me: ‘this is a battle, just enjoy it, have fun and put on a show for everyone.'”

Fernandez reached the business end in Hong Kong through wins over top seed Victoria Azarenka (retirement) and also dispatched teenagersMirra Andreeva and Linda Fruhvirtova.

The Canadian struck 29 winners in her defeat of Blinkova,breaking four times

“Slowly but surely, every match I’ve been improving, being more offensive, and hitting more targets,” the winner said. .

“Hopefully, soon I’ll get back to a level that I’m proud of. and I can say this is what I’ve been working for.”

Siniakova will be competing in her second final this season after winning on grass at Bad Homburg, Germany.

She last won a WTA title six years ago in Shenzhen.