World No. 1 women’s singles tennis star Aryna Sabalenka has revealed that she will miss out on some events in the 2026 season in order to keep her body healthy throughout the year. Her decision comes in respect to the struggles that she underwent last season. In 2025, Sabalenka had only competed in three out of the six WTA 500 events, including Brisbane, Stuttgart and Berlin, which affected her season rankings.
As per Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rules, top players like Sabalenka are expected to compete in all four Grand Slams, 10 WTA 1000 tournaments and six WTA 500 events. If failing to complete it, the player will be punished with a deduction in point rankings or with fines. Despite the punishment, the four-time Grand Slam champion has made up her mind to skip some events in 2026.
On Thursday, January 8, Sabalenka defeated Sorana Cirstea 6-3, 6-3 in a 70-minute match to secure her spot in the Brisbane International quarterfinals. This was her second win of the event. The Belarusian will next play against 21-year-old Russian Diana Shnaider or Madison Keys.
After defeating Sorana at the Brisbane International, Sabalenka shared the reason behind her decision to go against the WTA rule. She wants to keep her health a priority this time rather than performing under exhaustion and illness.
She said, “The rules are quite tricky with mandatory events, but I’m still skipping a couple events in order to protect my body, because I struggled a lot last season.”
“Even though the results were really consistent, some of the tournaments I had been playing completely sick or I’ve been really exhausted from overplaying. This season we will try to manage it a little bit better, even though they are going to fine me by the end of the season,” she added.
In September 2025, the WTA talked about keeping athletes’ welfare as the top priority and has kept the views of the players’ council and its representatives on the WTA board. WTA also decided to cater to boost compensation as well as to improve the circuit structure. Through its failed attempts, Sabalenka feels the WTA lacks in athletes’ protection but stays active on things that keep them an advantage.
“But it’s tricky to do that. You cannot skip 1000 events. It’s really tricky, and I think that’s insane what they do. I think they just follow their interests, but they’re not focusing on protecting all of us,” she concluded.
