Details of the Too Long Season
Sean A'Hearn
Is the professional tennis season too long? The obvious answer is yes. But let's go over some of the details of why.
Tennis is one of the few global sports that runs almost year-round. The tours span nearly the entire calendar, leaving players with little downtime to rest, recover, and recalibrate.
While fans may enjoy non-stop tennis,, the players' grueling schedules raise significant concerns, particularly with the extra demands of major tournaments like the Masters 1000s, WTA Premier events, and the four Grand Slams.
Top players have voiced opinions on this, including four-time Grand Slam champion, Carlos Alcaraz, who recently relayed his lack of motivation to compete ahead of the 2024 Davis Cup Finals.
"Sometimes I don't feel motivated at all," Alcaraz said. "The calendar is so tight—a lot of tournaments, no days off, or not as many days off as I want."
He then added a thought few people say out loud, "The calendar will kill us (the players) in some way." Those are ominous words from a 20 year old superstar.
The ATP and WTA tours begin in early January with warm-up tournaments ahead of the Australian Open. From there, the season extends through November with the ATP Finals and WTA Finals as the last events.
