Tennis star Alexander Zverev has heavily criticized the jam-packed tournament calendar. “We have the longest season in sport. It is unnecessarily long. There is no time to rest. There is no time to prepare the body and build muscle,” said Zverev at the Laver Cup in Berlin and accused the men’s professional organization ATP: “The ATP is not interested in our opinion. It’s a money business.”
For most professionals, the season begins right after Christmas with the United Cup in Australia and sometimes lasts until the Davis Cup finals at the end of November. “We come back from vacation and start tennis training straight away because we have to play in Australia in two or three weeks,” the world number two complained.
The issue of strain is also being discussed in football right now, after Manchester City’s Rodri initiated the debate and even did not rule out a strike. “We are not allowed to strike. We will be fined if we do not play the tournaments,” said Zverev.
“This will kill us”
In addition to the four Grand Slam tournaments, the Masters 1000 events are mandatory for the players. For him, playing fewer tournaments is not an option, said Zverev (27). “If you are an ambitious young person who feels like you haven’t achieved everything yet, that is not an option. The tour will then continue without you.”
French Open and Wimbledon winner Carlos Alcaraz expressed similar views. “I’m one of those players for whom there are too many compulsory tournaments a year. And there will probably be even more in the next few years. That will kill us,” said the Spaniard. The 21-year-old predicted that there would be even more injuries in the future: “At some point, many good players will miss a lot of tournaments because they have to think about their bodies.”
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