The grueling demands of the professional tennis calendar have long been a point of contention for players. High-profile examples abound: Iga Swiatek has voiced concerns about player health amidst tight scheduling, while Donna Vekic has described the schedule as “absolutely brutal.” On the men’s tour, Carlos Alcaraz has been particularly outspoken, even stating last year that the relentless schedule is “killing” players. More recently, in January, Taylor Fritz echoed these sentiments, expressing a desire for a shorter schedule. These persistent complaints over the years naturally lead us to reflect on the extraordinary dedication the ‘Big 3’ – Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Novak Djokovic – demonstrated during their peak years to achieve unparalleled dominance.

During last year’s European clay court season, the top five tournaments witnessed five different champions. This season sees an expanded clay swing with seven events at the ATP 500 level or higher, due to Munich’s upgrade and Hamburg’s shift to the week before Roland Garros. Furthermore, the Sunshine Double of Indian Wells and Miami produced two first-time ATP Masters 1000 champions in Jack Draper and Jakub Mensik. However, the tennis fans of the past were accustomed to Nadal’s springtime reign on clay, Federer’s end-of-year winning streaks, and Djokovic’s own periods of remarkable dominance. Is the hectic schedule during the clay court swing taking a heavy toll on the players?

According to the Big 3’s fiercest rival, Andy Murray, “I think just because of the longer events now, I think it’s harder to do that. I preferred how it was before because it probably allowed you to play more matches in a condensed period, but then you had more time to rest and recover, whereas now the rest and recovery ha at tournaments, and that’s not the normal rest. Physically and mentally, it’s not the same because you come into the courts, you practice, you’re around lots of people.” And while Grigor Dimitrov thinks these two-week events are “taxing on the body,” what does America’s number one, Taylor Fritz, have to say on this topic?

There are three Masters 1000 clay court events scheduled within a five-week window ahead of the Roland Garros. While speaking about that, Taylor Fritz was spotted hailing the ‘Big 3’ for their brilliance in their peak days. “It speaks to how insane those guys (the ‘Big Three’) were, they could just play non-stop all the time. And it’s tough to go back-to-back-to-back and just keep having big weeks, especially this time of the year, because there’s a lot of big events all in a row.”

Fritz further added, “There aren’t necessarily good weeks in this time of the schedule to take off. So, yeah, this is a very tough part of the year to just win, win, win, win, win. But, I mean, it just speaks to how good those guys were, I guess.” 

On the other hand, his compatriot, Frances Tiafoe, thinks that it’s not because of the scheduling woes, but due to the level of tennis that has increased with time, and the fact that there are several tough competitors playing in the same tournament at the same time. “Now, you can play anyone. I really feel like at the Slams, anyone can win.“

Just a few days ago, Carlos Alcaraz was also spotted bowing down to the brilliance of his tennis idol, Rafael Nadal, for successfully establishing his name as the ‘King of Clay’. What did he say at that time, though, about the brilliance of these tennis greats?

Like Taylor Fritz, Carlos Alcaraz hailed the tennis greats for their brilliance amidst non-stop play

Shortly after clinching the title in Monte Carlo, Taylor Fritz‘s peer, Carlos Alcaraz, was spotted highlighting how “proud” he was with the way he coped with a “difficult month.” Alcaraz then went on to explain why he prefers one-week Masters 1000 to two-week ones. Currently, five of the ATP Tour’s nine Masters events are played over 12 days.

Speaking on his special preference, Alcaraz suggested, “One-week tournaments are better. Some people might think that two weeks involve rest days, but that’s not the case. You train, you have to mentally prepare for the match, prepare for it… You’re not really resting. It’s two full weeks. That’s why I prefer one-week Masters 1000 tournaments. For me, it’s better for tennis.“

Later on, Alcaraz struggled a bit in the final match against Holger Rune at the Barcelona Open, failing to clinch hi third title there. Shortly after the match, he spoke about Nadal’s brilliance on the clay court swing. “Playing so many demanding matches in such a short time is always challenging. I did not think about possible physical discomfort, as you never do before matches. However, I knew it would be a difficult and demanding final. I wished to endure and play at a high level, which I did. This schedule is super demanding. You have to give 100% daily, which is very complex if you want to chase both titles. That’s why I bow at Rafa’s feet for what he did at these tournaments week after week. It’s a difficult task, and you must appreciate what he did over the years.” He has a point!

Beyond his record-breaking number of French Open titles, Rafael Nadal stands as the most dominant player at the ATP tour events in Monte-Carlo and Barcelona, having secured an impressive 11 and 12 titles, respectively. His reign on clay reached its peak between April 2005 and May 2007, during which he achieved an astounding 81 consecutive victories on the surface, marking the longest such streak in the Open Era.

Seeing the struggle of the players recently during the clay court swing, do you think we can ever see some dominating performances like the ‘Big 3’ during this part of the season? Share your thoughts in the comment section.