Have you ever sat through a long, grueling competition between two players giving it their all on the grand stage before an audience of thousands? Think back to the 2006 Italian Open Final when Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal battled it out for five hours and five minutes for a shot at the title. Although Rafa came up as the eventual champion with a winning score of 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-7(8), 9-7, the match itself was electrifying. But it doesn’t cut down the exhaustion the players face after the match. Would a legendary coach like Patrick Mouratoglou agree?

Patrick Mouratoglou, the former coach of WTA legend Serena Williams, recently highlighted the issues tennis needs to solve. In a series of Instagram videos on April 1, he addressed one pressing concern: the grueling hours players spend on the court. He noted, “About finishing late. It’s not easy because of the format of tennis that you never know is going to end. So, when you start five sets of a five-set match at ten, you can finish at 2 am, 3 am, maximum. But is it bad for the players? 100%. It’s terrible.” Mouratoglou emphasizes that the unpredictable match length is a significant problem.

Tennis players often face significant challenges during prolonged matches. The physical demands can be extreme, with matches burning over 6,000 calories and depleting energy stores, leading to fatigue and increased injury risk. Mentally, players must maintain focus and resilience over extended periods, which can be taxing. Mouratoglou highlights this issue, saying, “It’s terrible because people have to understand that when you finish a match at 2am, you need 3 to 4 hours to calm down because the adrenaline is extremely high and you can’t go to sleep. You need the treatment, the press, you have this, you have that. So probably you go to bed at 6 am, you need to recover the next day because you’re playing again one day later.”

The PTPA’s lawsuit against tennis’ governing bodies highlights the unsustainable schedule for players, criticizing the ATP for organizing over 60 tournaments annually. They argue this leaves little time for rest and forces players into a demanding 45-week routine, jeopardizing their health and safety. However, Mouratoglou also noted, “I don’t want to blame ATP for that or Grand Slams, because again, the format of tennis with no ending, you don’t know when is going to end. Makes it extremely difficult.” Players often show up to tournaments exhausted. This is evident in the experiences of top players like Jannik Sinner, who played at the 2024 Shanghai Masters right after competing at the China Open, reaching a brutal final match against Carlos Alcaraz just two days prior.

Jannik Sinner then battled through fatigue to conquer Novak Djokovic, 6-2, 6-7 (0), 6-4, and reach the Grand Final of the inaugural Six Kings Slam. During his press conference, he noted, “Today, I felt like we both made some mistakes, which is normal. We were slightly tired. This is quite normal. Hopefully, we can recover in the best possible way for Saturday, him for his match, me for my match. Then, we’ll see.” While he was glad with how he handled the match, it was a close call due to the fatigue he faced.

And he’s not alone in his thoughts about it. Tennis players repeatedly mention the strain of playing back-to-back matches on their mental and physical well-being.

Players open up about the hectic tennis schedule and its effects

Last year, Iga Swiatek, the women’s former world No. 1 and a five-time Grand Slam champion voiced her concerns about the grueling tennis schedule. She highlighted how it leaves players with little time to rest between tournaments, making it challenging to maintain peak performance week after week. After winning the Madrid Open, Swiatek noted, “Even if I win [a tournament], it doesn’t stick in my head. I celebrate for one day, then I’m off to another tournament… in my head. We don’t have time to rest properly. You have to use these days [between long-running events] and treat them a little bit like days off.”

The expansion of tournaments like Madrid and Rome to nearly two weeks has become a challenge for top players, though beneficial for organizers. These events, modeled after Grand Slams, are often seen as warm-ups for major tournaments like Roland Garros. Victoria Azarenka likened the extended drama to a “telenovela” dragged on too long, calling for adjustments. Stefanos Tsitsipas humorously stated that players need to be “superheroes” to perform well in back-to-back tournaments. Alexander Zverev agreed, noting that while the longer format benefits lower-ranked players, it burdens top players, who spend more time away from home and lose valuable rest.

As voices continue to rise against the demanding schedule, it remains to be seen whether these concerns will lead to changes or persist as the norm in tennis.