SINGAPORE — The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has no plans to change its schedule, said WTA Finals tournament director Melissa Pine, even as players are urging for a shorter season.

Speaking on the sidelines of the public draw ceremonies for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore yesterday at the Marina Bay Sands, Pine told TODAY that the nature of the game is such that the top players have to push themselves to their limits.

Pine, 37, admitted she heard the calls by world No 6 Agnieszka Radwanska early this month for the WTA season to be slashed to nine months from the current 11, and the player’s claim that “a lot of people will agree” with her.

But Pine said yesterday: “Injuries are part of sport. It is a hard road to Singapore, and you have to be on your ‘A’ game every single week,” she said. “It’s just a testament to how much these women want to be here. They stretch themselves to the limit, and often times, when you’re tired, injuries can happen in sport.

“It is 55 events in 33 countries. We actually have a shorter season than the men’s ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) tour. We’ve never really seen a lot of injuries like this in recent years, (but) I think sometimes it can be the luck of the draw.”

This season, several of the world’s top women’s tennis players have been battling injuries and illnesses. Cases in point include world No 3 Maria Sharapova retiring in her opening match in Wuhan citing a forearm injury, and Lucie Safarova’s hopitalisation last month after coming down with an infection. Even world No 1 Serena Williams retired from the rest of the season earlier this month to rest and recover.

The gruelling season was also exacerbated by what WTA believes is the tightest race ever to qualify for the year-ender in Singapore.

“It really shows the depth of woman’s tennis right now. There is an incredible amount of depth and women who have had huge success all year long,” said Pine.

“There are so many different winners of different titles, and it just goes to show that there is such a fine line when you’re at that top level and at top 10, between winning and losing a match.”

Yesterday’s WTA Finals draw was greeted by gasps from fans at Marina Bay Sands, as world No 3 Sharapova was drawn into the Red Group with No 2 Simona Halep. They are joined by a resurgent Radwanska, and Flavia Pennetta.

“For the first time in a while, it really feels like this could be anybody’s title,” said Pine. “You can see from the names up there. With Simona, Maria and Radwanska on the same side — that’s tough. But I think fans will love it. There has already been a lot of suspense in the qualification, and now we have a really tough match-up in the draws. We expect a full crowd again this year.”

WTA FINALS - THE DRAW

Red Group

Simona Halep (Rom)

Maria Sharapova (Rus)

Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol)

Flavia Pennetta (Ita)

White Group

Garbine Muguruza (Esp)

Petra Kvitova (Cze)

Angelique Kerber (Ger)

Lucie Safarova (Cze)