Give the ATP stars a break

Wonderful World of Tennis / Scott Ferguson / 18 October 2007 / Leave a Comment

Scott's Spot - Scott looks at the ongoing issues of mental and physical burnout in modern tennis

Noticed the strength of the PGA Tour events in recent weeks? You won't find many big names there, it's all about the guys battling to make next year's tour. Competitive events but no big drawcards in the field. Messrs Woods, Mickelson, Furyk etc are putting their feet up and letting the lesser lights take the spotlight as they battle to qualify for playing rights in 2008. Marquee players tend to play sporadically in the first two months of the year before getting serious in the lead-up to the Masters.

On the other hand, the ATP has mandatory events for its stars stretching from January (Australian Open) through to November (Paris Masters and Masters Cup). When exactly are these guys supposed to have a break? You can't be primed and ready for Melbourne, then switch off for a month before Indian Wells and Miami.

What's there to play for at this end of the year? For a handful of guys, they might be trying to qualify for the eight-man Masters Cup event. There's a small degree of prestige to it, but considering these blokes will have made a million bucks for the year anyway, do they really care? Tennis is a far more demanding sport on the body, yet little is done by governing bodies to prolong their careers of their players.

The WTA has done their homework and listened to the players in reducing their schedule for the coming seasons. So many female players retire early - burnout due to mental and physical fatigue is a major factor but not the only one. Roadmap 2009 has a tournament calendar ending in mid-October, giving players nine weeks to rest, recover and prepare for the new season. Importantly, they have also reduced the number of events elite players must play by 23% and have implemented restrictions on the maximum number of events they can play.

PGA Tour golf is an exception - it's played on one continent and is subject to the same weather cycle, although obviously California and Florida are far better off than the northern states for months they can host events. Tennis, and the ATP especially has to start contracting the length of the season for players. They have to find a way to work with the ITF, who control the Grand Slams and the Davis Cup. Let the big names finish their season early and let the lesser lights fill the void in the gaps. The human body needs time to rest, recover and regenerate. Bodies being destroyed by too much training are prime reasons why steroids (allowing players to train harder for longer) and match-fixing are allowed to surface as players have to make sacrifices to survive on the circuit.