Tennis is currently faced with a real issue that was highlighted once again at the Australian Open.
The Australian Open was stacked with stars, culminating in a men’s singles final where Carlos Alcaraz beat Novak Djokovic to complete the Career Grand Slam.
However, there were also some notable names missing from the Melbourne major in both the men’s and women’s singles draws.
This has confirmed that there is a real issue within the sport right now which needs to be fixed before it is too late.
Tennis needs to address the current injury crisis before it’s too late
While the likes of Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina and Coco Gauff all played a big part in the Australian Open this year, there were some significant absences from the tournament.
Due to ongoing injury concerns, Holger Rune, Arthur Fils, Jack Draper and Qinwen Zheng were forced to miss the Australian Open.
How would you solve the tennis injury crisis?
Even players who competed in the tournament were carrying injuries, with Taylor Fritz struggling with a knee problem, while Brazilian teenage sensation Joao Fonseca stumbling to a first round exit after struggling with a back issue in the weeks prior.
The likes of Rune, Fils, Draper and Fonseca are supposed to be the future of men’s tennis and are seen as potential challengers to Alcaraz and Sinner, but at the moment injuries are preventing this from happening and are actually damaging the sport.
While it is difficult to pinpoint exactly what is causing the seemingly growing number of injuries, the relentless tennis calendar has to be playing its part.
This was only highlighted at the Australian Open, with there being three WTA tournaments taking place at the same time as the men’s singles final.
Players will continue to complain about the tennis calendar, but what is it going to take for the ATP and WTA Tours to actually listen, because right now they seem to be contributing to their own downfall.
Who surprised you the most at the Australian Open this year?
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The Australian Open could contribute to even more injuries next year
While tennis has made no plans to change the calendar, the Australian Open could actually be about to make things worse.
One of the big debates in tennis is often whether women should play best-of-five-set matches at Grand Slams.
This debate was brought back up in the latter days of the Australian Open after tournament director Craig Tiley revealed that he was considering changing the rule for women to play best-of-five-set matches from the quarterfinals in Melbourne next year.
Tiley’s announcement has divided opinion amongst both fans and players, but there is a fundamental reason as to why this would be a bad idea.
At the Australian Open this year, there were 10 retirements/walkovers in either the men’s or women’s singles draw.
However, only three of these came in the women’s singles draw, with over double the number of injury retirements coming in the men’s event.
| ATP Retirements/Walkovers at the Australian Open | WTA Retirements/Walkovers at the Australian Open |
| Felix Auger-Aliassime (Retired – First Round) | Marina Stakusic (Retired – First Round) |
| Raphael Collignon (Retired – First Round) | Fran Jones (Retired – First Round) |
| Hugo Gaston (Retired – First Round) | Naomi Osaka (Walkover – Third Round) |
| Michael Zheng (Retired – Second Round) | – |
| Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (Retired – Third Round) | – |
| Jakub Mensik (Walkover – Fourth Round) | – |
| Lorenzo Musetti (Retired – Quarterfinal) | – |
This does not feel as though it is a coincidence and instead due to the relentless nature of best-of-five set matches, which impacted the likes of Felix Auger-Aliassime, Jakub Mensik and particularly Lorenzo Musetti, who retired from his quarterfinal against Djokovic.
Instead of trying to bring in more best-of-five set matches, tennis should be trying to reduce this if they want to sustain the future of the sport.
That does not necessarily mean removing them altogether, as the format was once again proven to provide some incredible matches at the Australian Open this year, but something needs to give if tennis is going to be as successful as it should be in the coming years.
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