When will the tennis powers that be in the ATP and WTA heed the voices of its players? Two of the best competitors and players of utmost character on the ATP Tour, Alex de Minaur and Casper Ruud, have spoken out this week about the marathon schedule just five months into the eleven month season.
This is not a new argument, it is brought up at least once a year, but it is interesting that it comes up as early as the French Open this year.
De Minaur talked about the endless grind. Ruud, who is dealing with a nagging knee injury since April, has no time to recover as he tries to keep his points and ranking up. Iga Swiatek also talked about the frenzy of the schedule last year, and it is soon time that someone listens.
Why the tennis schedule needs to be changed
- Tennis has an 11 month season. No other professional sport plays that long.
- All of the tennis tournaments are not sold out events.
- Players outside the Top 100 barely make a living on this schedule. The costs associated with training and traveling are greater than their earnings in many cases.
- Diehard tennis fans love to watch tournaments, but not at the expense of the players’ well-being. Burnout, injury, and mental exhaustion will shorten players’ careers if this unsustainable schedule continues.
Some of this could be remedied by changing the ATP Masters 1000-level tournaments back to week-long events instead of 12 to 14 day events. The extra time spent is not helpful to the players as these events are mandatory and seem to follow one after another.
This point is discussed by retired professionals Sam Querrey, John Isner, and Jack Sock in their Nothing Major podcast (starts at six minute point and continues until approximately the eleven minute mark).
