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World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka has made it clear that she is not a fan of the performance bye rule. When Elena Rybakina arrived in Tokyo, she missed out on a top-4 seed although she was the third best-ranked player in the field.
The reason for that was the introduction of the performance bye rule, which rewarded Guadalajara semifinalists Maria Sakkari and Caroline Garcia with a top-4 seeding. The performance bye rule is meant to reward players who made the semifinals in a tournament the previous week. “I knew because they sent an email before, everyone knew about the performance bye, but I didn’t understand it.
I do not understand that. Players who have byes for having played semi-finals in a lower tournament receive a bye in a 1000 tournament, I don’t understand it. I think you have to earn those byes. You have to do it for the consistency of your game, not just for playing well in a tournament, so you get this advantage.
You have to deserve it, that’s why I don’t understand it and I don’t agree. I’m happy for the players who made it, but I think this is not acceptable. I hope the same thing doesn’t happen again later. It would be understandable if it went from 1000 in Guadalajara to 1000 here, but not from 500 tournaments to 1000 tournaments,” Sabalenka said, via The Tennis Letter.
Aryna Sabalenka says she does not agree with performance byes:
“I knew because they sent an email before, everyone knew about the performance bye, but I didn’t understand it. I do not understand that. Players who have byes for having played semi-finals in a lower tournament… pic.twitter.com/yA8G7uDc29 — The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) October 1, 2023
Sabalenka not a fan of the performance bye rule
After learning she would not be a top-4 seed in Tokyo and would not have a first-round bye, Rybakina ripped the WTA.
“Performance bye. Thank you for changing the rules last moment. Great decisions as always @wta,” Rybakina captioned her Instagram Story. When Sakkari and Garcia were asked about Rybakina’s comments, they insisted that the players were aware of the rule. Meanwhile, the WTA hasn’t made any comments regarding the criticism surrounding the performance bye rule.
