"You pick your schedule, you know what you’re risking" - Serena Williams' former coach backs Elena Rybakina after she criticizes WTA over Tokyo byes

Former doubles World No. 1 Rennae Stubbs has backed Elena Rybakina after she criticized the WTA's decision-making process following the 2023 Toray Pan Pacific Open draw.

The draw for the WTA 500 tournament in Japan was revealed on Saturday, September 23, with World No. 2 Iga Swiatek being the top seed and Rybakina the third seed.

However, while Swiatek got a bye in the first round, Rybakina did not. The 2022 Wimbledon champion will begin her campaign with an opening-round clash against Czech teenager Linda Noskova.

Meanwhile, Maria Sakkari and Caroline Garcia, who are ranked and seeded lower than the Kazakh, received a bye in the first round. This was because of their exploits at the recently concluded Guadalajara Open.

Rybakina was left unhappy with the decision and took to social media to express her thoughts.

"Performance bye. Thank you for changing the rules last moment. Great decisions as always @wta," she wrote on her Instagram stories.

Stubbs, who was coaching Serena Williams in her final weeks as a professional tennis player, has come out in Rybakina's defense, stating that players should be allowed to pick and choose which tournaments they take part in.

"I agree 100% with Rybakina! You pick your own schedule. You know what you’re risking, seeds should not be hurt for not playing the tournament the week before. @wta," she said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

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Poor scheduling, late night matches, and performance byes: Elena Rybakina's unhappy relationship with WTA

Elena Rybakina's displeasure at WTA using performance byes at the Toray Pan Pacific Open isn't the first time she has criticized the tour's management this year.

The Canadian Open in Montreal was severely affected by rain this year, which wreaked havoc on the schedule. Rybakina and Daria Kasatkina faced off in the quarterfinals, which began at 11pm on a Thursday and ended at 2:55am.

The World No. 5's semifinal match against Liudmila Samsonova was scheduled for Saturday evening, just 15 hours after her win against Kasatkina. She was unhappy with it and stated that the scheduling was all over the place because "the leadership is a little bit weak."

"It’s the first time when the match went that long and we finished also so late. It’s the first time and hopefully the last time because I think it’s been a little bit unprofessional from the, I cannot say really the tournament because I think that the most important is the WTA here, and the leadership is a little bit weak for now," she said in a press conference.

Rybakina has since stated that she picked up a few injuries as a result of it, which affected her performances at subsequent tournaments. She retired in the second round of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati (vs Jasmine Paolini) and lost in the third round (vs Sorana Cirstea) of the US Open.