Carlos Alcaraz warns tennis bosses 'you are going to kill us' as row erupts

Carlos Alcaraz warns tennis bosses ‘you are going to kill us’ as row erupts

Posted by Admin September 22, 2024 Tennis

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The demands of the tennis season have been a talking point this year. More Masters 1000 tournaments have extended to a two-week format while an increasing number of events are becoming mandatory for players.

Alcaraz has now suggested that the calendar is getting “too much” as he warned of the consequences, claiming he and his rivals would get injured and have to skip tournaments.

After getting his first victory at the Laver Cup, the 21-year-old admitted it sometimes ruined his motivation. “As I said many times, you know, the calendar is so tight, a lot of tournaments, no days off or not as much days off as I want,” he explained.

Asked to elaborate, the world No. 3 recognised that some of his colleagues were happy with the number of tournaments in the schedule and potentially even wanted to see more. But he said he was firmly in the other camp.

He continued: “I’m the kind of player who think there is a lot of tournaments during the year, mandatory tournaments, and probably during the next few years gonna be even more tournaments, more mandatory tournaments.

“So, I mean, probably they are going to kill us in some way. Right now they are showing up a lot of injuries because of the ball, because of the calendar, because a lot of things.”

While the big events are seen as requirements for top players, the Spaniard believes organisers will see a lot of withdrawals so the big names can have enough time off. “So probably at some point a lot of good players are going to miss a lot of tournaments because of that,” Alcaraz added.

“Because they have to think about their bodies, they have to take care about their life. I mean, they have family, they have a lot of other stuff in life than tennis. So they have to take care about it, as well. So it’s getting too much, I guess.”

Alcaraz isn’t the only one who feels this way. British No. 1 Draper recently told the BBC that the calendar was “mental” and “exhausting”.

He added: “The way the ATP have changed to two weeks with the Masters and these types of things, it’s giving us no time any more. There’s literally no break. It’s really mentally and physically challenging.”

Earlier this summer, world No. 1 Iga Swiatek told Sky Sports: “I think we have too many tournaments in the season. It’s not going to end well and it makes tennis less fun for us, let’s just say.”