Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic. Three favorites at the 2024 US Open. Well, Sinner created history by being the first man to win the hard-court major. However, the Spaniard made an exit from the tournament after a disappointing loss to Botic Van de Zandschulp in the R2. Then the 2023 champion, Djokovic, faced defeats at the hands of Australia’s Alexei Popyrin in the R3. What might be the reasons for their early exits? While both the players later on revealed the potential reasons for it, now, the American tennis legend, Andy Roddick, has come with his say.

Previously after his exit from the 2024 US Open, Alcaraz said, “I came here with not as much energy as I needed, but I don’t want to put that as an excuse. I’m a player who needs more days and more breaks coming into the good tournaments. So I have to think about it and I have to learn about it.” Even Novak Djokovic said that he felt a bit “out of gas” in this tournament. The Serb reached the SF at the AO, QF at the French Open, and he made it to the finals in Wimbledon. Considering all these performances, including his heroics at the Paris Olympics, Djokovic admitted it was the “worst tennis” he has ever played. Is tight schedule the real reason for this havoc in the tennis world?

In their latest ‘Served’ podcast episode, Andy Roddick and Kim Clijsters dived into the highlights of the 2024 US Open. They discussed the stunning victories of Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka, the impressive performances of American players like Taylor Fritz, Jessica Pegula, and Frances Tiafoe, and what the tournament revealed about the current form of Naomi Osaka and Carlos Alcaraz. Additionally, they explore the challenges of the intense tennis schedule and offer potential solutions to improve the well-being of players.

According to Andy Roddick, it’s the “tight” scheduling that has a major role to play. “The men’s draw fell apart….I don’t know what the fix is. But like the Olympic hangover was real. And at some point at tennis, and I don’t know who’s responsible for it. Maybe we all are. It’s like plausible denial ability if we can get away with it. But this schedule in tennis has to give. And all it does it we keep adding and nothing is taken away.”

“Like you look at Alcaraz, if you’re looking at mid May, when you’re ramping up for Roland Garros while trying to recover from an injury, which he was and we conveniently forget that he barely played tennis leading into the Roland Garros this year, it’s like four and a half months of basically playoff tennis, Roland Garros into Wimbledon into the Olympics, switching surfaces back on the hard courts for anyone at some point. Same with Novak.”

“For Novak, it’s even worse,” the 2003 US Open winner said further. That too, for almost two decades. Roddick feels it’s even “tougher mentally” for someone like Djokovic. However, they are not the only ones to complain about tight scheduling in the racquet sport.

Other players join Carlos Alcaraz to voice against tight scheduling

During the 2024 US Open, we heard the world number one in women’s singles, Iga Swiatek, address this same issue. She raised her voice against tight scheduling in tennis, citing tennis players’ mental and physical health concerns were being ignored. Even during the 2024 Cincinnati Masters, we heard her say, “I think we have too many tournaments in the season. It’s not going to end well. It makes tennis less fun for us…We deserve to rest a little bit more.”

Elina Svitolina was also heard complaining about the same. She explained how tough it is for the players to take care of their mental health and physical conditions amid all these jam-packed schedules. Even Holger Rune also spoke about this issue revealing how difficult it becomes for them to take care of their injuries in the highly competitive world where match comes thick and fast.

In February 2024, Carlos Alcaraz described the tennis calendar as “too demanding“. According to him, the schedule “needs to be changed” and he also gave the decision-makers a suggestion for having fewer mandatory tournaments as one of the probable solutions to this persisting problem.

What do you think can be the probable reasons for this disappointing performance of Alcaraz and Djokovic at the 2024 US Open? Let us know if you agree with Andy Roddicka’s take on this.