Carlos Alcaraz believes tennis' relentless schedule is "going in the wrong direction" and feels players are being "pushed" to feature in too many tournaments. The world No 3, who opens his Shanghai Masters campaign on Saturday, was speaking two days after successfully defending the Japan Open for his third title of an injury-hit year. He missed four and a half months between April and August with a wrist issue.
World No 1 Jannik Sinner announced this week that he has ended his season early due to a knee problem. Alcaraz said the ATP officials were "pushing us too much out of the line sometimes to play a lot of tournaments, to play a lot of matches." He added: "I just wish Jannik the best for these months, just to be in good shape for the next season."
Sinner has not played since beating Alexander Zverev in the Wimbledon final in July. Novak Djokovic, who claimed his 102nd career title at the China Open on Tuesday, said Sinner has to think long term. "That's smart because as someone that always tried to have the big picture in my mind, I really support that kind of thinking and mindset," Djokovic said.
Djokovic added that returning from a long absence brings extra challenges, noting that players must ask themselves whether they are fully healed. "For him if it's a knee, it's affecting everything, affecting every single movement," he said.
Source: Sky Sports Champions League · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing