Fatigued De Minaur calls for shorter season

A fatigued Alex De Minaur crashed retired of the French Open connected Thursday and called for the tennis calendar to beryllium shortened, informing that a nonaccomplishment to instrumentality enactment soon could effect successful players burning retired physically and mentally.

The play kicked disconnected with the United Cup mixed squad tourney successful December, 33 days aft the Davis Cup Finals ended successful Spain, and the grueling quality of the circuit has travel nether a harsh spotlight successful caller years.

"No one's got a solution," De Minaur said aft his 2-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 second-round decision by Alexander Bublik.

"But the solution is simple: you shorten the schedule, right? What's not mean is that for the past three, 4 years I've had 2 days disconnected aft the Davis Cup and I've gone consecutive into pre-season, consecutive into the caller play again.

"Once you start, you don't decorativeness until November 24. So it's ne'er ending. The mode it's structured ... I had to woody with that. I'm inactive dealing with that close now.

"The solution is you shorten (the tour), due to the fact that what's going to hap is players' careers are going to get shorter and shorter due to the fact that they're conscionable going to pain retired mentally. There's conscionable excessively overmuch tennis."

Twice French Open finalist Casper Ruud said aft his daze exit connected Wednesday that the ATP's ranking strategy was similar a "rat race" and players felt compelled to vie successful the men's tour's mandatory events adjacent if they are carrying injuries.

The seventh effect mislaid to unseeded Nuno Borges, with the Norwegian saying helium had been struggling with genu pain.

Asked if the tennis calendar made it hard to instrumentality clip disconnected and afloat heal an injury, the 26-year-old said players' rankings would instrumentality a deed if they skipped mandatory events.

"Well, it's similar a rat contention erstwhile it comes to the rankings," Ruud said.

"You consciousness you're obligated to play with definite rules that the ATP person acceptable up with the mandatory events. You consciousness similar you suffer a batch if you don't amusement up and play ... the punishments are rather hard, successful presumption of everyone other volition play, summation points, and you won't."

Reuters has contacted the ATP for comment.

Ruud besides said a player's year-end bonus was chopped by 25% if they missed a mandatory event.

"If you don't play a mandatory event, they chopped 25% of your year-end bonus," helium said. "You're forcing players to amusement up injured oregon sick, oregon whatever, erstwhile that's not what I deliberation is precise fair."