Tennis players have frequently expressed their concerns about the demanding nature of their schedules, highlighting the lack of time for personal life and recovery. For example, on the women’s side, we’ve seen players like Iga Swiatek raising concerns over tennis players’ health amid tight scheduling, Donna Vekic calling out the schedule “absolutely brutal“. And, then on the men’s side, Carlos Alcaraz has been the most vocal, and last year he even stated that the hectic schedule is “killing” the players. Then this year on January 27, even America’s Taylor Fritz was heard saying, “I’d love to shorten up the schedule here and there” and play a bit less. Seeing all these complaints over the years makes us wonder about the hard work that was put in by the ‘Big 3’ to chase excellence during their peak days. Previously, tennis fans were quite accustomed to seeing Rafael Nadal routinely showcasing his dominance by clinching all four red clay events during the spring. Federer used to seal the deal by winning the last three-four events at the end of the year. Although Novak Djokovic is struggling a bit currently, he also has a record of similar dominance in his peak days. Why don’t we see a similar dominance in the current era?
In 2024, five different players won five of the biggest clay court tournaments (Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, and French Open) during this time! Is the hectic schedule during the clay court swing taking a heavy toll on the players? According to the Big 3’s fiercest rival, Andy Murray, “I think just because of the longer events now, I think it’s harder to do that. I preferred how it was before because it probably allowed you to play more matches in a condensed period, but then you had more time to rest and recover, whereas now the rest and recovery happens at tournaments and that’s not the normal rest. Physically and mentally, it’s not the same because you come into the courts, you practice, you’re around lots of people.”
According to Grigor Dimitrov, these two-week events are “taxing on the body.” What does America’s number one, Taylor Fritz, have to say on this topic? There are three Masters 1000 clay court events scheduled within a five-week window ahead of the Roland Garros. While speaking on that, Taylor Fritz was spotted hailing the ‘Big 3’ for their brilliance in their peak days. “It speaks to how insane those guys (the ‘Big Three’) were, they could just play non-stop all the time. And it’s tough to go back-to-back-to-back and just keep having big weeks, especially this time of the year because there’s a lot of big events all in a row.”
Fritz further added, “There aren’t necessarily good weeks in this time of the schedule to take off. So, yeah, this is a very tough part of the year to just win, win, win, win, win. But, I mean, it just speaks to how good those guys were I guess.” On the other hand, his compatriot, Frances Tiafoe, thinks that it’s not because of the scheduling woes, but the level of tennis has increased with time, and there are several tough competitors playing in the same tournament at the same time. “Now, you can play anyone. I really feel like at the Slams, anyone can win.“
Just a few days ago, Carlos Alcaraz was also spotted bowing down to the brilliance of his tennis idol, Rafael Nadal, for successfully establishing his name as the ‘King of Clay’. What did he say at that time, though, on the brilliance of these tennis greats?
Not just Taylor Fritz, but also Carlos Alcaraz hails the tennis greats for their brilliance amidst non-stop play
Shortly after clinching the title in Monte Carlo, Taylor Fritz‘s peer, Carlos Alcaraz, was spotted highlighting how “proud” he was with the way he coped with a “difficult month.” Alcaraz then went on to explain why he prefers one-week Masters 1000 to two-week ones. Currently, five of the ATP Tour’s nine Masters events are played over 12 days.
Speaking on his special preference, Alcaraz suggested, “One-week tournaments are better. Some people might think that two weeks involve rest days, but that’s not the case. You train, you have to mentally prepare for the match, prepare for it… You’re not really resting. It’s two full weeks. That’s why I prefer one-week Masters 1000 tournaments. For me, it’s better for tennis.“
Later on, we saw Alcaraz struggling a bit in the final match against Holger Rune at the Barcelona Open. He failed to clinch this third title there, and shortly after the match, he spoke about why players like Rafael Nadal were very special.
Interesting Fact: Nadal won Monte Carlo and Barcelona ten times between 2005 and 2018. His first Monte Carlo-Barcelona double came in 2005 when he was just 18 years old.
Highlighting his brilliance on the clay court swing, just like Taylor Fritz, even Alcaraz had then showered praise on the brilliance of these tennis legends. Alcaraz said, “Playing so many demanding matches in such a short time is always challenging. I did not think about possible physical discomfort as you never do that before matches. However, I knew it would be a difficult and demanding final. I wished to endure and play at a high level, which I did. This schedule is super demanding. You have to give 100% daily, which is very complex if you want to chase both titles. That’s why I bow at Rafa’s feet for what he did at these tournaments week after week. It’s a difficult task, and you must appreciate what he did over the years.“
Seeing the struggle of the players recently during the clay court swing, do you think we can ever see some dominating performances like the ‘Big 3’ during this part of the season? Share your thoughts in the comment section.
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