No. 5 seed and defending champ Andy Roddick lost to No. 143 ranked Polish qualifier Lukasz Kubot in the second round of the China Open on Tuesday: 2-6, 4-6. After the match, the American joined the late-season chorus of jaded, worn out tennis players (and tennis bloggers) who wish that the season would just be over, already!
Here’s Roddick’s take in his post-match presser:
Q: Serena Williams was just talking about how this is a tough time of the year when your body starts breaking down and things. What do you do to try to keep going tournament to tournament?
RODDICK: Serena Williams, their tour championships are in two weeks, so that’s good. Ours are not. It is, it’s a tough task. I certainly have not been shy about saying that at a certain point, something’s gotta give. There’s got to be some time to get yourself right physically and mentally. Right now, that’s just not the case, and you’re seeing it with Roger and Murray being out in Tokyo and Rafael had a four-month deal. Everyone acts surprised when that happens, but it really, I think the fact that we play all the time and all the sudden something happens, it’s really not that surprising.
Roddick, like most of the top players, has been a vocal proponent of a shortened schedule. I think he’s right on the money with this comment: “It would benefit (tennis) to not be so short-sighted and give people time to miss the sport.”
Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Popular sports like American football and baseball have off seasons running from 4 – 6 months – I’m including mandatory training as part of the off-season, since tennis players must train, too - which gives the fans and the players plenty of time to crave the competition. What do you think?
Loading ...Tags: ATP, Beijing, China Open, Lukasz Kubot, Roddick, tennis
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I'd like to see what would happen internationally when they'd have to cut out some tournaments. The issues with Hamburg were bad enough. It might be be needed, but it'll be messy as hell.
I agree with Anna, but, still, I'd like to see the players get a break. Right now, they are away from home most of the year, living in hotels, competing week after week without built-in time to give their bodies a rest. Because of the point system, there is always pressure to be in the next tournament whether you're ready or not. Add jet lag to that and it is a recipe for injury, burn-out, and maybe drug use. I don't know how it could be done, but I'd like to see change.
maybe it would just give other players a better opportunity to win tournaments in oct/part nov. while the top guys rejuvenate???????
Yeah, I agree that the way the system is now makes shortening the season nearly impossible. There's always some very good excuse when it comes to making changes. I for one, think it makes a lot of sense to move the Australian Open to February, but obviously Australians don't see it my way – it's their summer tradition! I'd also like to tighten up the clay court season and the hard court season(s) – don't ask me how – and add a grass court masters event and make Davis Cup a once-every-two-years event.
But I'm curious to hear your perspective as fans – irrespective of what is actually possible. In theory, would you welcome a shorter season or do you like the never-ending cycle of tournaments? As a fan, I think a shorter season would be more exciting.
i spent several mins writing a comment and it was deleted by admin. hopefully it's there in a cloud somewhere ff! i know it's not your fault though.
Hey freakyfrites….is there a word limit? I've posted a comment and twice, it's shown me 'deleted by the administrator'…their is nothing offensive in my post. it's a bit long though, like 3/4 A4 page…please advise. thanks.
Hi Judy and Mary, found your comments and retrieved them from pergatory! Thanks for letting me know.
thank you ff! i think some of my posts need to be more concise, otherwise they disappear.
Thank you!
Hey FF! I like what Judy and Mary are saying here. I wrote something along those lines last year because in all the years I've been following pro tennis, I never got the complaining about the schedule deal. I still don't! I know the game's more physical now, but it is possible to take time off to train, even during the season. And a lot of the top, top guys are so far ahead of the pack, they really don't have to worry about falling too far from their ranking spot.
"maybe they could make the points and requirements lower so players aren't forced to overwork themselves?"
I agree…..the length of the season should remain as it is, but players should be able to choose what tournaments to play in without having to incur a penalty. Missing a tournament already costs ranking points, so I see no need for extra penalty for missing a mandatory event. Maybe only Grandslams should be mandatory? I doubt it's possible for all top players to miss a specific tournament at the same time, so the particular tournaments where someone like Fed or Rafa withdraws will not suffer from small crowds. And I think the current top10 is very strong and all more or less crowd pullers…obviously not to the level of Fed & rafa…with these, fans hang from rafters to watch. lol
I really like the idea of moving the Australian Open February as it makes the season shorter and there already feels like there is too much time between the Australian and French Opens. I’ve always thought that the French Open should be a bit earlier because it feels like Wimbledon starts as soon as the French finishes. The two surfaces are so different that I think the players should be given a bit more time to adjust. This will also enable the tour to add another grass court tournament, which I think definitely needs to happen.
Probably not a shorter season, but better spaced slams. I believe it's the fact that the French Open, Wimbledon and indeed the US Open are so closely spaced together that basically causes the burn-out. That's 6 weeks of solid, all-consuming best-of-5 set tennis within a 3 month period. Throw in another 2 Davis Cup ties.
If the slams were more evenly spaced I believe the problem post-US Open would be better. But it would never happen. None of the slams would ever want to move.
In theory, this is a very good idea….but in practise, tennis is governed by the weather 'coz most tournaments are outdoor events……so each country wants to squeeze in tournaments in their respective spring-summer seasons. As someone pointed out, AO is in Jan -Feb 'coz it's summer down under……then Wimby can only be held in June-July 'coz that's the time of 'assured' sunshine in England, & even then, numerous rain delays…same to French open when they have to hold it in their spring season. Then US open can only be in Sept…any later & I suppose it's rainy autumn in New York & the tournament would have to run to three weeks. From the US open, they're playing indoors where weather is not a problem.
So in this sense, as it is, I suppose it's impossible to space out the grand slams 'coz tennis, unlike other sports, cannot be played in the rain. The only way I see this working is if some grand-slams are moved to more tropical countries (highly unlikely though 'coz which country would even think of giving up it's slam?)……or…….building roofs over most courts, then spacing out the slams (again unlikely 'coz they're meant to be outdoor tournaments & building all those roofs would be highly expensive).
Actually, i think the slams CAN be spaced out better, and particularly with taking weather into consideration. The AO should be played in late February, toward the end of summer there, so there is much less chance of extreme heat. The FO should be played in mid-May, again decreasing chances of very hot days. The Wimbledon can stay where it is. Then the USO should be moved to late September when the weather is usually very nice in NY – once again with much less chance of terrible heat. Unfortunately, FO and USO seem to be governed by American TV networks that just love to utilize Memorial and Labor Days for showing fourth-round tennis (and Independence day for the Wimbledon).
And somehow a way should be found for leading players to not have to play so many non-slam tournaments.
in the meantime these top 20 guys need to do what's best for their health and longevity and maybe then the atp will get the message. these tv execs and sponsors really are all about the money. maybe they should think about televising more of the other events so the public gets to know other players…..a real tennis channel. that way there might be less pressure on the top 10-20 and expose other talented players who would become inspired and gain confidence by going further or winning a tournament. tournaments can remain w/some adjustments to point value and add more pts. to majors.
I'm fine with the schedule. We did not have those in top 5 this year in Thailand Open but the stadiums are almost packed. Good up-and-coming new guys and the tie-games make them all exciting. I get to watch some new player — love some already!
So, totally agreed that the top 5 can rest and let the others shine during their rejuvenating period.
I doubt that the French Open can be moved to mid-May (even if that's just a 10-14 day difference to the current late May program)…..remember there's the small important issue of clay masters to be fitted in within the very small window of spring-summer sunshine pre-wimbledon in Europe…..so the FO has to come right at the end of May.
Maybe the only feasible thing is to move the AO to February…..but that will barely change the packed scheduling 'coz Fo, Wimbledon & US open will remain at about the same time.
i think all of this discussion is very interesting and goes to show how challenging it would be to change the schedule or move events around. there are many issues involved. the top players are probably the ones heard most often complaining about scheduling difficulties because they are most likely to go deep in tournaments (shorter recovery, travel time) and they are the ones more popular in the press. i still think making points and tourny requirements lower might help because it wouldn't mean closing down tournaments, but it would give players options so they could stay healthier and consistently play at a high level. luckily the men's game is very strong right now, so most tournaments will have high profile players entering. maybe not fed and nadal, but many other talented players that would be exciting for fans to watch. isn't roger the president of the atp player's council. he should wield that power in the next meeting!
even he had to pull out of two tournaments in asia due to injury.
OKay, you guys have convinced me that spacing is key to a good system. Why not start the year in Asia? Move the Australian back a few weeks and start with the Shanghai Masters and China Open. Move back Wimbledon because there's basically 5 weeks of blah between W and the the Rogers Cup.
The question is what to do with the weird hard court season before the claycourt season. Personally, I LOVE Indian Wells – it is my tournament – but having IW and Miami back to back after the Australian and before the clay court season is just weird!
I still think in the ideal world the tennis season is over at the US Open (except for the year end champs). It just feels like the natural stopping point and everyone loves a big finale. The question is how to get to Asia, Europe and America etc. in 9 months instead of 11.
That said, none of this will never happen! Maybe the ATP can carve out an extra week or two.
I agree what you said about having hard court masters right before clay. I think the Australian Open should switch places with the Masters in Miami Florida.
i feel like i need to look at the full year schedule to think about this some more. interesting points on the surface changes. where to put the hard court events early in the year is a tough one, but maybe mr. 'thank god the hardcourt season is over' can make some helpful suggestions?
it's not like you can move IW or miami to the summer, prior to the USO, because there are many USO series tournies during that time. it is strange that there's a big jump from australia to north america early in the year.
you know what i love about this site? it runs the gamut from deep thoughts on atp scheduling to naked/almost naked tennis hotties, like marat! GTT- where else as tennis fans would be rather be?