The tired Alex de Minaur crashed from the French Open on Thursday, calling for a shorter tennis calendar, warning that not taking action could lead to players being physically and mentally burnout.
The season began with the United Cup Mixed Team Tournament in December 33 days after the Davis Cup final ended in Spain, and the harsh nature of the circuit has been in the harsh spotlight in recent years.
“No one has a solution,” De Minauer said after Alexander Bublik’s second round defeat, 2-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.
“But the solution is simple. Do you want to shorten your schedule? What’s not normal is that I took a break two days after the Davis Cup for the past three, four years, and then went straight to the preseason and then headed straight to the new season again.
“Once you start, it won’t finish until November 24th, so there’s no end. The way it’s structured… I had to deal with it. I’m still dealing with it.
“The solution is for you to shorten (tours), because they just burn out mentally, so players’ careers are short and shorter, because they have too much tennis.”
Two-time French open finalist Casperude felt that after finishing his Shock Ex on Wednesday, ATP’s ranking system was like a “rat race” and that players were forced to compete in mandatory events on the men’s tour, even if they were injured.
The seventh species was defeated by an unseeded Nuno Borges, and the Norwegians said they were struggling with knee pain.
Asked if the tennis calendar took the time to make it difficult for an injury to heal completely, the 26-year-old said that if they skipped a mandatory event, the player’s rankings will be a hit.
“Well, that’s like a rat race when it comes to rankings,” Roode said.
“I feel obligated to play with certain rules that ATP sets in mandatory events. If you don’t show up and play, you feel like you’ll lose a lot… The punishment is very difficult in that everyone else plays, earns points and you won’t.”
Reuters contacted ATP for comment.
Rood also said players’ year-end bonuses were reduced by 25% if they missed a mandatory event.
“If you don’t play the mandatory event, they’ve reduced 25% of your year-end bonus,” he said. “You’re forcing the player to show up with an injured or sickness or anything when that’s not something I think is very fair.”
