According to Andy Murray, yes it is.
During the US open there were a record number of towels being thrown in much to the disdain of the spectators who paid top dollar for their tickets. But is it really due to the jam packed World Tour schedule or more to do with how competitive the sport is getting?
The way the tour works is that there are a number of ATP tournaments offering either 250, 500, 1000 that are scattered around the Grand Slams. It is entirely the player and his team’s decision on where and when to play. They are not forced to play at every tournament unless it is due to personal contracts with sponsors.
Thus starts the vicious cycle of top players playing in 20 or more tournaments a season collecting points which thereby forces the player ranked below to follow suit to avoid falling behind. So far only one player has been able to continually play in a mass amount of tournaments without feeling the effects. Roger ‘Unbreakable’ Federer.
Even the super fit Nadal eventually needed time off from this cold war style arms race due to a bad knee.
The idea of shrinking the tennis season to help players cope would be preposterous. Tennis is a sport, a big part of sport is conditioning and athletic ability, having fast recovery times and taking care of your body is part of the sport, some will always be better than others.
As always leave your comments, whether you agree or disagree!
