Aryna Sabalenka threatens to boycott tennis tournament after 'ridiculous' comment made

Sabalenka made clear she was deeply unimpressed by his reaction, stating: "I'm not sure if I ever want to go there after his comment. For me it's too much."

The dispute centres on Tahlak's demand for stricter penalties against players who pull out of tournaments at short notice.

Tahlak argued that late withdrawals should carry more severe consequences for players than currently exist under tour regulations.

The tournament director insisted that financial penalties alone were insufficient to address the problem.

"There should be a harsher punishment on the players," Tahlak said.

"Not just fines, they should be docked ranking points."

His proposal would see players lose valuable ranking points in addition to monetary sanctions when they pull out of events at the last minute.

Such a measure would represent a significant escalation in how tournaments deal with withdrawals, potentially affecting players' standings and seedings at future competitions.

Sabalenka hit back forcefully at the tournament director's stance, accusing him of failing to support players.

"It's ridiculous. I don't think he showed himself in the best way possible," she said.

The Belarusian expressed disappointment at what she perceives as a lack of concern for athlete welfare from those running events.

"For me, it's actually so sad to see that the tournament directors and the tournaments are not protecting us as players," Sabalenka added.

She accused organisers of being motivated purely by commercial interests rather than the wellbeing of competitors.

"They just care about their sales, about their tournament and that's it. His comment was ridiculous," she stated.

Sabalenka also explained that her withdrawal was part of a deliberate strategy to protect her fitness during an exceptionally demanding period on tour.

"Going into this season, we decided we were going to prioritise my health and make sure that we have these little gaps in the schedule where I can just reset, recharge, work and be better prepared for bigger tournaments," she said.

The world No 1 had also skipped the Qatar Open before claiming victory at Indian Wells last weekend.

"Scheduling is going crazy and that's why you see so many players are injured, always taped and not delivering the best quality matches because it's almost impossible," Sabalenka added.

Under WTA regulations, elite players must participate in all four Grand Slams, ten WTA 1000 events and six WTA 500 tournaments.