World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and world No. 2 Iga Swiatek have both withdrawn from the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on the eve of the tournament, prompting a furious reaction from the event’s director. Questioning the legitimacy of their reasons, he argued that the late pullouts should not go unpunished, suggesting not only financial penalties but even the deduction of ranking points.
“It was an unfortunate surprise last night to get news of the withdrawal of Aryna and Iga. And the reasons for withdrawal were a bit strange. Iga said she wasn’t mentally ready to compete, while Sabalenka said she has some minor injuries,” said Dubai tournament director, Salah Tahlak, after the draw ceremony on Saturday.
“So I don’t know. I think there should be a harsher punishment on the players [for withdrawing], not just fines, they should be docked ranking points.
“I even asked the [tournament] doctor, what is the injury? He said it’s a minor injury, not one that would force her to withdraw from the tournament. And for Iga, I asked, ‘Isn’t this a strange decision?’”
Tahlak argued that a fine alone would be insufficient, insisting that ranking points should be deducted as a more appropriate sanction for players who withdraw at the last minute without a compelling reason:
“I feel they should deduct points from the players. A monetary fine won’t help. Many years ago, Serena Williams withdrew and was fined $100,000. But what is $100,000? She would play someplace else and make $1,000,000. So the fine isn’t a big deal.”
Tahlak has made it clear he will not let the matter slide and intends to raise the issue at the upcoming meeting in Italy:
“We have a meeting coming up in Rome and I want to shed light on this issue. We have a representative on behalf of the international group [of tournaments] to speak for us with the WTA. Because it’s a shame that we’re spending these huge amounts to upgrade our facilities and in the end the players are the main part (of this tournament).”
Sabalenka has been absent from competition since the Australian Open final, including a withdrawal from the Qatar TotalEnergies Open, while Swiatek’s most recent outing ended with a quarterfinal loss in Doha. (source: The National)
