Carlos Alcaraz has taken a swipe at the hectic tennis calendar and said he will skip tournaments from now on.
The Spaniard, who returned to action after a lengthy layoff due to a wrist injury sustained in April to defend his US Open title, said the demands of the schedule made it impossible for players to compete in every major event without risking burnout.
The Spaniard pointed to the absences of other top stars as evidence that the schedule is too demanding and will keep causing injuries.
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World No 1 Jannik Sinner and British star Jack Draper are notable absentees at Flushing Meadows along with Holger Rune, Joao Fonseca and a host of other players.
“I took more (time off) than I wanted, to be honest, but you know, seeing how tight the calendar is, obviously I don’t want to have this break because (of) an injury,” said Alcaraz after coming from a set down to beat Jaime Faria in the second round.
“But in the future, I’m going to take some breaks, some long breaks. Maybe not four months, but one month, two months, missing some tournaments, because it’s impossible to play them all.
“I think they (are) adding more important tournaments. You know, in a way they (are) making us play. You can say ‘no’. You can keep one or two.
“You can decide your calendar, but there are some Masters 1000s, some grand slams, and we’ve been out playing 40 weeks if we got to play every mandatory tournament that the ATP, you know, required us to play.
“So it’s impossible, and we are seeing a lot of players getting injured, a lot of players getting tired. If they don’t do anything about it, we are going to see even more in the future.
“But for me, taking this break because (of) an injury, it wasn’t that good, but you know, what I’m going to say is I’m going to take some breaks and miss some tournaments in the future, for sure.”
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Murray: I understand it from the players’ perspective
Speaking to Sky Sports Tennis, Jamie Murray said: “I can totally understand it from the players’ perspective. The Tour is longer than it’s ever been in terms of commitment and days away from home.
“These younger guys have seen how Roger [Federer] and Rafael [Nadal] have elongated their careers – how they finished their careers as well. If they want to play until they’re 34, 35, 36, they will probably have to skip tournaments and that’s something the Tour needs to consider.
“The Tour is catering for over hundred players and they want to be out there competing.”
Alcaraz plays Chinese world No 113 Wu Yibing in round three on Friday.
The US Open is live on Sky Sports from August 30. Stream tennis with no contract on NOW and the Sky Sports App. You can also watch the Laver Cup at The O2 in London from 25-27 September live on Sky Sports.