‘We need to protect players’ – how can tennis avoid breaking point?

When Daria Kasatkina cut her 2025 season short in October, the former world number eight described how she had “hit a wall”.

The workload is excessive. I’m at a crossroads both mentally and emotionally, and I’m not alone, she wrote.

Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, a two-time Wimbledon semi-finalist, had already announced she was not in “the mental space” to continue, while reigning Grand Slam champions Iga Swiatek and Carlos Alcaraz believe the calendar is too long.

As the world’s top tennis players reconvene in Australia for the start of the 2026 season, the subject is still up for discussion.

It was welcomed to have a slightly longer off-season than 2025. Nevertheless, several weeks is not seen as enough time for proper recuperation before preparations begin for an 11-month campaign regarded as among the most onerous in professional sport.

According to Dr. Robby Sikka, medical director of Novak Djokovic’s Professional Tennis Players’ Association (PTPA), “the demands of tennis are more difficult than ever before,” he told BBC Sport.

Players are faster, faster, and hitting the ball harder during rallies and matches.

” We owe it to our players to protect them and give them a more sustainable sport. “

The 2025 season spanned 47 weeks for many men, beginning with the United Cup team event on 27 December 2024 and ending with the Davis Cup final on 23 November.

The WTA Tour Finals on November 8th marked the conclusion of the women’s season, which came two weeks earlier. To prevent scheduling issues, the ITF moved the Billie Jean King Cup Finals until September.

The ATP Tour says it does not take the concerns of the players” lightly”, while the WTA Tour says player welfare will” always remain a top priority”.

The PTPA, which filed a lawsuit against the men’s and women’s tours in March, alleging “anti-competitive practices and a blatant disregard for player welfare,” was unsatisfied with that.

Revamping the calendar is an obvious solution but cannot be achieved easily given the complex nature of tennis governance, where the four Grand Slams, ATP, WTA and ITF each have controlling interests.

Dr. Sikka, who also serves as the New York Yankees’ team physician, said, “We need to think about whether we can buy back time at the end of the year for an extended off season, or whether we can do it during the season.”

Andy Roddick, a former world number one, has long urged change, and he claims the season should not end on November 1.

The ATP Tour has cut the number of events which count towards the rankings from 19 to 18 for 2026, which it believes will reduce” overall demands “on the players.

The top players are expected to compete in at least 20 mandatory events, including four Grand Slams, ten WTA 1000s, and six 500s, according to the WTA rankings, which are based on 18 tournaments.

One thing that frequently gets overlooked is that players can choose their own schedules, according to ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi.

” I think players are more mentally tired and more fatigued because they’re spending more days away and more days on the road, “Andy Murray, Britain’s former men’s world number one, told The Tennis Podcast.

There are concerns about the increased physical demands, as well as mental burnout.

PTPA data indicates that players in April, August, and October experience more severe upper-body injuries.

When Murray infamously finished an Australian Open match in 2023 at 04:05 local time, it promised to cause change.

In 2024, the WTA and ATP brought in a rule preventing matches starting after 11pm.

However, matches that ended well past midnight are still occurring, which Dr. Sikka contends cannot be allowed to be “romanized.”

You simply don’t go home when you’re done playing. You have to do media, recover, work with the physiotherapist, then you go to hotel and unwind, “he added.

Your day ends at 3:30 a.m., not at midnight or at 1 a.m. Then you have to enter and hit again the following day.

Multiple tournaments that use different balls and have different weight and pace have been linked to higher upper body injuries.

Britain’s Katie Boulter says players want more ball consistency from week to week.

She told BBC Sport in May that she has seen more and more of her injuries while playing on the radio. “I’ve had a lot of injuries in my arm, shoulder, and wrist.

Dominic Thiem, a former US Open champion who retired last year due to a persistent wrist injury, believes that all other tournaments should use the same swing.

“It shouldn’t be too difficult – the same ball for clay, the same for hard and the same for grass. That would be very helpful for the players, he claimed.

According to sports scientists, tennis needs to learn how American team sports use data to influence stars’ well-being.

In order to reduce the risk of injury, the NFL demanded consistent playing surfaces and improved helmet technology.

“NFL has made many rule changes based on empirical evidence and data information”, said Kitman Labs founder Stephen Smith, whose firm provides professional sports teams with data and analytics to monitor player welfare.

Because their games are so competitive and they keep players off the field, “we’ve seen the economic model is skyrocketing.”

The gold standard is “they’re putting their money where their mouth is by investing heavily and protecting athletes,” they say.

The MLB has introduced rules aimed at protecting pitchers, limiting their throws at the professional level and putting age restrictions on how much young players can pitch.

Thiem believes that tennis players’ early injuries, including his own, are a direct result of the load they put on their upper bodies from a young age.

The 32-year-old Austrian said, “We start playing at such an early age and have so many repetitions of our groundstrokes.”

Players are finding voice in response to the demands that are being made of them.

Alcaraz and Sabalenka, the two world leaders, are among the stars putting pressure on the Grand Slams with demands for more money, meaningful consultation, longer tournaments, and scheduling.

Last year, American men’s world number six Taylor Fritz said it was” absurd “he was only able to take one week off tennis before the 2025 season.

Emma Raducanu of Britain claims that the grind is “a challenge” but that she believes that top players should not be moan about the calendar.

” Uniformly the players are very motivated for change, “added Dr Sikka, who says the PTPA has provided data analysis to” well over 100 players “to guide recovery and welfare.

“We live in a world where everyone is more health conscious than ever, not only because of their success and income, but also because they are also more health conscious than ever.”