This year’s clay court season unveiled shocking incidents that were hard for the players to digest. Rafael Nadal, who gathered all he had to be part of the last few events of his legendary career, was seen having a tough time in most of them. Besides him, Novak Djokovic failed to be stable on his run for the title in Rome as he faced an early exit. While several top-ranked players had to keep themselves out of the scene, Stefanos Tsitsipas came forward to explain how their absence had changed the game.

In a recent interview, Tsitsipas expressed his concerns about the heavy schedule and the harsh impact it laid on players’ health. The ATP star highlighted the importance of having top players like Nadal and Djokovic in tournaments, stating, “Without them, the show is not kind of the same.”

Acknowledging the impact of the tough schedule that players like Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner had to go through, he also pointed out the strain of the extended tournament days. “Adding more days…you got to be some type of superhero to be consistent back to back 10 days in each event,” the 25-year-old said.

The Greek star also highlighted the need for adjustments to the schedule to prevent further injuries, warning, “If these type of things continue with the same schedule not being adjusted…we might see more of these things occur in the future.”

With Nadal, Djokovic, Alcaraz, and Sinner all going through a tough time because of their own reasons, Tsitsipas’s words presented the challenges faced by tennis players along with highlighting the urgency for changes to ensure their well-being. With the clay court season advancing to its major tour, it still remains to be seen if the top contenders will be able to regain their positions.

Stefanos Tsitsipas himself becomes a victim of the stress

Besides pressing on the fact that players go through hardships because of the intense scheduling, Stefanos Tsitsipas also had to navigate himself through a tough time at the Italian Open. During his opening match against Jan-Lennard Struff, the Greek tennis star wasn’t able to contain his frustration and therefore took it all out on his racket.

“I can’t really process what happened in the last three hours on Stadium 1. A lot of drama, a lot of tension, a lot of emotions, a lot of fighting,” he said, being clueless about what triggered him to perform the act of rage. Along with that, he also mentioned how hard it was for him to go through a mix of emotions as he added, “I mean it was really difficult dealing with emotions like this. I don’t think I’ve had a match in my life that so many negative emotions overtook me and I kind of felt in a very tricky, weird situation.”

As the top-ranked ATP stars currently go through a difficult situation in their careers, it still remains to be seen what strategy they all use to get back in a fresh mood.