SHANGHAI– Novak Djokovic said that talk about reorganising the tennis schedule has been going on for at least 15 years and his fellow players are “still not united enough”.
The amount of tennis the elite play was thrust back into the spotlight this week after world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz pulled out of the Shanghai Masters to rest and there was a raft of injuries at the China Open.
Alcaraz and fellow Grand Slam champions Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek all took aim at the tennis calendar this week and railed against the number of tournaments they play.
Speaking in Shanghai, where Djokovic lost in last year’s final to Jannik Sinner, the Serbian great said it was “very complex” and similar complaints had been going on for years, but to no avail.
“More than 15 years ago, I was talking about us needing to come together and reorganise the schedule,” said the 38-year-old, a 24-time Grand Slam champion.
“It’s an individual sport… at the end of the day you can still make choices,” Djokovic said according to AFP.
However, “there are people who just don’t want to change things in our sport for the better… when it comes to the players’ welfare”, he added.
Players are “still not united enough”, or investing enough time and energy into trying to make change happen, he said.
“You need the top players, particularly, to sit down and roll up their sleeves and really care,” he added.
The Serb starts his Shanghai campaign against Croatia’s Marin Cilic, ranked 94th.
Djokovic is back in action after a four-week break, having cut back the number of tournaments he plays in order to extend his time at the top.
He last appeared at the US Open in early September, when he was knocked out in the semi-finals by Alcaraz.
Alcaraz added his voice to the criticism and pulled out of the Shanghai Masters with “physical issues” as the packed schedule for elite tennis players came under renewed scrutiny this week.
With another season approaching its climax, six-time major champion Alcaraz and fellow Grand Slam winners Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff all took aim at the amount of tennis they play.
The busy calendar in women’s and men’s tennis has been a constant talking point in recent years.
Top players, who earn handsomely, have repeatedly railed against their workload and this week saw a raft of matches end prematurely at the China Open.
Five players retired from their matches in Beijing with injury on Monday alone.
On Tuesday there was the sight of Daniil Medvedev hobbling about on court, barely able to move, before the Russian called it quits when 0-4 down in the deciding set of his semi-final to US teenager Learner Tien.
Tien’s quarter-final opponent, Lorenzo Musetti, also retired with injury.
World No 1 Alcaraz sustained an ankle injury in his opening match of the Tokyo Open that required heavy strapping and put his participation in doubt.
He shrugged off the problem to beat Taylor Fritz in the final for his eighth title of a spectacular season.
Asked about comments from Swiatek and Gauff on the packed calendar, Alcaraz said: “The schedule is really tight. They have to do something with the schedule.”
Soon after the 22-year-old Spaniard pulled out of the prestigious event in Shanghai, which got under way this week, “to rest and recover”.
He did not say when he will return to action.
One of the complaints among elite players has been that some tournaments, like Shanghai, have been extended to become more akin to a Grand Slam fortnight.
