Yevgeny Kafelnikov is not a name that not many tennis fans would be familiar with since he retired in the early 2000s. However, the Russian recently found himself in the headlines after his stunning criticism of Iga Swiatek’s rant about the WTA schedule.
The five-time Grand Slam champion was part of a grueling 2-hour and 39-minute quarterfinals encounter against teenager Mirra Andreeva at the Cincinnati Open 2024. Despite the action-packed thriller being filled with numerous highlights, the Polish star went viral on social media for her comments in the post-match interview.
While conversing with the Sky Sports crew, the World No.1 expressed dissatisfaction with the hectic WTA schedule. She was extremely vocal when demanding time off between tournaments to get much-needed rest. Swiatek said,
“I think we have too many tournaments in the season. It’s not going to end well. It makes tennis less fun for us… I love playing in all these places, but it’s pretty exhausting and I think most of WTA players would tell you that… So yeah, I don’t think it should be like that, because we deserve to, you know, rest a little bit more.”
“It’s not going to end well!” ♀️
Iga Swiatek gives her opinion on the busy schedule of a tennis player pic.twitter.com/80R4tZBa3h
— Sky Sports Tennis (@SkySportsTennis) August 17, 2024
Her outburst drew several reactions, including Kafelnikov, who condemned her for “complaining”. In a post on X, he wrote,
“Is someone pushing you to play??? All you fricking do is complain!! I’ll tell you what you deserve! You deserve to get paid a lot less than you do now!! How about that??”
is someone pushing you to play ??? All you fricking do is complain!! I’ll tell you what you deserve ! You deserve to get paid a lot less than you do now!! How about that??✌️ https://t.co/Oc4GBS0ll4
— Kafelnikov Yevgeny (@KYevgeni) August 17, 2024
His reaction enraged fans. They instantly called him out for being inconsiderate and even labeled him jealous for stating that Swiatek deserved to be paid less.
She’s way more successful at 23 than you were in your entire career, sit this one out champ
— Bastien Fachan (@BastienFachan) August 17, 2024
Career earnings
Kafelnikov $23,883,797 when retired
Swiatek $31,419,512 at 23 years oldI can hear some jealousy in this tweet
— Izabella Badura (@IzaBadura) August 17, 2024
How can a former pro talk such shit. You should be ashamed of yourself. You can only dream of achieving what she already has. What she has said is 100% correct and speaking out is not complaining.
— Garry (@GarryPa31881391) August 17, 2024
A particular user also brought up the betting scandal he was involved in to shed light on his character.
Atleast she didn’t fix her matches to lose intentionally, and retire to avoid an investigation? pic.twitter.com/uU4O50rb0S
— sage (@iguszkaburner) August 17, 2024
Many fans found it disheartening to see a two-time Grand Slam champion, an Olympic gold medallist, and a former World No.1 not empathize with a top player’s plight and they did not hold back in their criticism of his comments.
