A few days ago, Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek were at the center of debate after making bold statements against the packed tour schedule. Amid this backdrop, Novak Djokovic weighed in on the matter and took a subtle shot at both players.
In a press conference ahead of his Shanghai Masters debut against Marin Cilic, Djokovic noted that he believes there is a lack of unity among players. He argued that while many complain about the same issue, few invest their time and energy into finding real solutions.
“As a player and someone that has been playing on the highest level for more than 20 years, I can say that the players are not united enough. Players are not participating enough when they should be. So they make the comments and they complain, and then they go away. And then if something is wrong, after a certain amount of time they come back again,” Djokovic noted.
He went on to emphasize that players themselves — not their teams, agents, or families — need to dedicate time to understanding how the system works in order to propose improvements.
Novak Djokovic during his Shanghai Masters game against Marin Cilic. (Hu Chengwei/Getty Images)
“But you have to invest the time, you have to invest energy yourself, not your agent, not your team, not your parents, not anybody, yourself, to dedicate yourself to understand how the system works, to understand what are the things that can be done to be reversed, to be improved in terms of the players’ interest,” he continued.
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Carlos Alcaraz voices frustration over tight schedule as he issues warning to the ATP
Finally, the Serbian aimed a thinly veiled comment at the ATP and WTA’s top stars, stressing that they, in particular, should be more involved in shaping solutions. Still, Djokovic admitted from personal experience that change is unlikely, no matter the effort.
“For that to happen, you need the top players particularly, you know, to sit down, roll up their sleeves, and really care a bit more about participating in understanding all of the hot topics, I would say. Because going out in the media and talking about this and that, okay, it might stir up some energy or some attention. But in the end of the day, it’s not going to change, nothing is going to change, you know? I know it from my personal experience, trust me. So, yeah, it’s quite a complex topic,” Djokovic concluded.
Zheng Qinwen pushes back on Swiatek’s criticism of the schedule
World No.9 Zheng Qinwen, who was forced to withdraw from her China Open round of 32 match against Linda Noskova due to injury, voiced her disagreement with Iga Swiatek’s complaints about the demanding tennis calendar.
For the Chinese star, the tough schedule is simply part of the sport and something every professional must accept. Qinwen even made a bold statement, suggesting that the calendar isn’t overly demanding because only the strongest players can endure it.
“I mean, this is part of the game. As a professional player, this is what it is because we have to play that many tournaments since it’s on the calendar,” said the 22-year-old in her press conference. But I don’t think for professional players the calendar is too much because the strongest players survive, and that’s the rule in my head,” Qinwen stated.
