During the media day at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, our colleagues from Tennis World Italia asked Alexander Zverev his point of view on the recent injuries that are affecting tennis players on the ATP Tour.
The denser and more demanding schedule is causing The health of tennis players is being tested hard and Zverev’s words seem to confirm this thesis.
“I have been on the Tour for 10 years now. We have always discussed how we can shorten the season. It’s not about whether we play tennis, because we love playing tennis, but what we can do to have time to prepare our bodies for the physicality that tennis imposes on you and having the time to take care of our body.
The season lasts eleven months. I spoke to Alex de Minaur who played the Davis Cup final on November 29th and his first ATP Cup match on December 29th. Exactly one month. That’s not enough time. It’s not enough to rest the body,” explained Zverev.
Alexander Zverev© Julian Finney / Staff Getty Images Sport
Zverev on the ATP schedule
Zverev knows well the sensations and thoughts that a tennis player is forced to live with when he suffers an injury. The German damaged all three lateral ligaments of his ankle due to the very bad ankle sprain that shocked everyone at Roland Garros in 2022.
The number of injuries on the ATP Tour is constantly growing, as happened in recent days to Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, and the busy schedule does not seem to help the players at all.
“Physical preparation isn’t just linked to the work on the pitch: it’s how much work you do in the gym, outside the pitch. We’re talking about things that we can’t afford during a season. We only have four weeks to rest and prepare our body, which which doesn’t happen in other sports.
I think the two-week ATP Masters 1000 is great for players ranked between 50 and 100, not the top 10. It’s simple. You have a day where you don’t play, but that doesn’t mean rest. Resting means spending time at home with your family, your children or your dogs.
If you are somewhere other than home, a day without playing is not rest. If you try to go far in these events, like Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, you have to work a lot harder,” he told.
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