The intense discussion about the demanding tennis schedule is far from over. Some players have openly criticized it, while others have taken a more balanced approach. While Carlos Alcaraz stands as a prime example of the former case, Jannik Sinner is inclining towards the latter. After Alcaraz disagreed with Sinner’s opinion, Sinner recently received support from Roger Federer‘s former coach, Paul Annacone.

On the September 27 episode of the Tennis Channel Live Podcast, the Indian-American former tennis player, Prakash Amritraj and Annacone discussed recent tennis matches, including Jannik Sinner’s win at the China Open and Alex Michelsen’s win at the Japan Open. While in the conversation, the two also discussed the tennis’ hectic scheduling and Jannik Sinner’s take on it.

Amritraj praised the Italian’s mindset and revealed his positive impression of the ATP star’s decision. “I love Jannik Sinner’s take. He’s like, yeah, the schedule is really complicated, but don’t play. You don’t want to play, don’t play,” he said. Further, he remarked on the implications of skipping tournaments. “Yeah, there are some financial implications, there could be some ranking implications.

Moments after, he agreed that tennis schedule has become congested. “…but the schedule doesn’t work out. It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out. It’s getting more and more congested,” he concluded.

Before his 2024 China Open run began, Sinner took a dig at Alcaraz’s lament about how tennis scheduling is ‘killing’ the players. “Yeah, the schedule is quite long, obviously these years. But we players, we can still choose what to play and what not to play. Obviously, we have some mandatory events, yes. As a player, you can still choose. I think of that,” Sinner said.

While the Italian clearly had a different opinion, Alcaraz reflected on how the perception varies among players.

“Didn’t complain big”, Carlos Alcaraz remains firm on his statement

On Wednesday, Alcaraz, who is also in Beijing for the China Open, was asked about Sinner’s statements in a press conference. While Sinner’s statement chose a balanced approach to address the issue, Alcaraz stressed how “a lot of players complain about the schedule, about the calendar as well.” He confirmed hearing Jannik Sinner’s response and said, “I hear about in Jannik’s press conference here, he talk about it a little bit. He didn’t complain as much as he did, he didn’t complain big about the calendar.”

He pointed out that every player possesses different feelings. So it might not be possible to build a unanimous opinion about it. “It depends as well about the players. Probably a few players, a lot of players are not going in my side; a lot of them going to be in my side complaining about the calendar, that it is so tight. It depend about the feelings of every players,” Alcaraz concluded.

The hectic tennis scheduling has been a long subject of discussion in the fraternity. While players like Taylor Fritz or Alcaraz have spoken about it, Sinner dropped a more realistic expression of it. Amidst all, the 2024 Japan and China Open is running high with excitement. Among all ATP stars, whom are you rooting for?