‘Trying to make players die?’

Daria Kasatkina ripped scheduling as “terrible” following her Abu Dhabi Open semifinal win as the Russian is asking the WTA and its tournaments if they are “trying to make players die.”

On Sunday, Kasatkina will be taking on Elena Rybakina in the Abu Dhabi Open final at 5 pm local time. The following day, Kasatkina is scheduled to return to the court for her Doha first-round match against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in Qatar. 

After edging out Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-3 4-6 7-6 (2) in two hours and 59 minutes of play, Kasatkina was brutally honest when revealing her true feelings about being scheduled to play the day after her Abu Dhabi final. 

“It’s terrible scheduling, honestly,” Kasatkina said after surviving a thriller against Haddad Maia, via AFP.

“I don’t know how you can schedule the finals of the tournament on Sunday, wanting to finish the next tournament on Saturday, so you start it on Sunday, and like this, the player, if like me, you don’t have a bye in Doha, I have to play on Monday. And I play finals tomorrow at 5 pm.

“We don’t have yet this technology that I can just do like this (snaps her fingers) and be in Doha in five seconds.”

Kasatkina: Trying to make us die?

Since Kasatkina will likely conclude her Abu Dhabi final on evening, reaching Doha will be only possible via a flight on Monday. 

“I have a question, I don’t know to who, to WTA or the tournaments, like, are you guys trying to make players die, or to get injured often?” asked Kasatkina.

“I might have to fly Monday and step on the court the same day, after playing five matches here at the highest level. So I’m sorry but that’s something we have to talk about and consider.”

Meanwhile, Kasatkina is now a win away from clinching her first win since winning Granby in 2022 August. But for that to happen, Kasatkina must deliver a big performance to beat No. 1 seed Rybakina and prevent the Kazakh from already winning her second title of the season.