The mounting concerns about the WTA Tour’s grueling schedule seem to have finally found a resolution. Several players expressed concerns about it over the years due to an increasing number of injuries and burnout. And it appears that with their latest rule change, WTA is finally addressing their concerns.

The WTA Tour Architecture Council formed earlier this year was tasked with addressing scheduling issues. In a recent update by the Council, they are planning to cut down the number of mandatory WTA 500 tournaments for top players starting next year, and the voting for that will take place sometime during the US Open.

“When we came out with circuit structure a couple of years ago, it was trying to get players to play more 1000s and 500s,” said Council member Bob Moran to Front Office Sports. “They have to play 1000s, but more of the 500s, and rules were put into place to do that. And one of the things was they have to play six 500s. We heard from the players that that has been difficult. I’m very confident that at the US Open, you’ll see that number come down.”

Currently, the required number of WTA 500 tournaments that top players have to play stands at six. In comparison, top ATP players are only required to play four 500 events every season. Moran believes that this number will drop down to “probably five or four” in the WTA’s case soon. This will bring down the tally of total tournaments that top players are expected to play to around 15-17. Earlier, they were required to play at least 17 tournaments a season. This includes four Grand Slams, seven 1000 tournaments, and six 500 events.

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This is a step that would be welcomed by the majority of the players on the circuit, including Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, both of whom have been major critics of the Tour’s current schedule.

“The season is definitely insane, and that’s not good for all of us, as you see so many players getting injured, and also the balls are quite heavy. It’s a lot of struggle for all of us,” said Sabalenka during a press conference at the Brisbane International. “The rules are quite tricky with mandatory events, but I’m still skipping a couple events to protect my body, because I struggled a lot last season.”

On the other hand, Swiatek had expressed her frustration with the Tour’s demands after missing out on Poland’s qualifier at the Billie Jean King Cup last year. According to her, there is no reason for players to participate in 20 or more tournaments in a year.

“The scheduling is super intense. It’s too intense. There’s no point for us to play over 20 tournaments in a year,” she said during a pre-tournament press conference at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships. “Sometimes we need to sacrifice playing for your country because we need to keep up with playing these WTA 500s, for example, because we’re going to get a zero in the ranking.”

Turns out that their concerns regarding the schedule made a lot of sense, and the WTA should have done something about it right away. A number of players have suffered this season due to the grueling demands of the Tour, forcing them to take indefinite breaks or bring the season to an early end.

Three WTA players in particular have been severely affected by the Tour’s scheduling

Firstly, 30-year-old Beatriz Haddad Maia had brought her season to an early end earlier this month. Her first-round defeat at Wimbledon against Maria Timofeeva was her eighth consecutive loss on the Tour. She had a dismal win-loss record of 4-19 this season, and this run of results had started to take a toll on her mental health. This has also affected her relationship with tennis overall.

On the other hand, both Laura Siegemund and Lulu Sun have taken indefinite breaks from the Tour. Both had last played at Wimbledon and now won’t be competing for the coming weeks. Though she didn’t specify when she would return, Siegemund did say that she would be missing the US swing in particular.

Ranked No. 98, the German is likely to move out of the top 100 in the coming weeks due to her withdrawals from multiple important tournaments. In comparison, Sun’s case appears to be very different, as she simply wants to stay away from competition for some time and enjoy life off the court.

The 2026 season has been a struggle for the Kiwi, as she has a poor win-loss record of 8-16. Her performances just haven’t been up to the mark, and add to that the stress of continuously playing on the Tour, it is not a big surprise that she has opted for a break.

It is safe to say that the WTA needs to make major changes to the schedule if they don’t want more players to take indefinite breaks due to the Tour’s demands. Along with that, we also have to wait and watch if the men’s tour follows the same path as the WTA and welcomes this much-needed change.