Carlos Alcaraz has followed up on his comments about how the packed tennis schedule is ‘killing’ the players.
The four-time Grand Slam champion is in Beijing preparing to commence the Asian swing at the China Open.
There has been plenty of talk regarding how congested the ATP circuit has been this season, especially during an Olympic year.
Some have spoken out about the congested tennis calendar, including Alcaraz, but his friend and great rival Jannik Sinner also shared his thoughts, and the pair shared different points of view.
Carlos Alcaraz responds to Jannik Sinner‘s comments about the ATP Tour schedule
While he was competing at the Laver Cup, Alcaraz was brutally honest about the tennis schedule and complained that players are getting injured due to the number of tournaments being played.
Several of the ATP’s Masters 1000 events have been extended from one week to two, and therefore the period of time players have in between some events has decreased.
Sinner also commented on the matter and took a less sympathetic approach, claiming that players are able to take breaks when they desire. Ahead of the China Open, Alcaraz responded to Sinner’s claims while reinforcing his view on the ATP’s schedule.
“I’ve heard a lot of players complain about the schedule, about the calendar as well. Didn’t see it after my words, after this I didn’t hear, I didn’t see people or players talk about that. I’ve seen it before, before my words,” he told reporters.
“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 too much about the calendar. It depends on the players.
“I mean, I’m talking about that. Probably a few players, a lot of players are not going in my side; a lot of them are going to be on my side complaining about the calendar, that it is so tight since the first week of January till the last week of November. We have to take about it ourselves and we have to do something about it.”
Can Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner play each other at the China Open?
Alcaraz and Sinner are the top two seeded players at the China open, meaning they cannot play each other until the final.
Of the pair’s nine meetings so far, they have contested just one final, which came in Umag back in 2022. Sinner secured a 6-7(5) 6-1 6-1 win that day, and his last vicitry iver Alcaraz came in the China Open semifinals in 2023 before going on to win the title.
However, Alcaraz has won both of their matches in 2024 so far, which came in the semi-finals of the Indian Wells Masters and French Open.
Sinner began his China Open campaign with a win over Nicolas Jarry while Alcaraz will begin the event against French wonderkid Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
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