Novak Djokovic calls out rivals and demands action after Carlos Alcaraz complaints | Tennis | Sport

Novak Djokovic has claimed that his fellow tennis players are not “united enough” after hearing their complaints about the lengthy tennis calendar. The extended Masters format has been a hot topic in recent months, with more ATP and WTA 1000 tournaments moving from seven days to 12, including the Shanghai Masters.

World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, who was forced to skip the Shanghai tournament this fortnight, once criticised the schedule and said: “They are going to kill us in some way.” While Djokovic agrees that something must be done, the 24-time Major winner also wants to see players roll up their sleeves and enact change.

Alcaraz’s decision to pull out of the Shanghai Masters to rest and nurse an ankle injury has sparked renewed criticism of the demanding tennis tour, not least because he still decided to play the one-week ATP 500 event in Tokyo.

WTA No. 2 Iga Swiatek said the season was “too long and too intense” while Jannik Sinner admitted that players needed to start skipping tournaments if they wanted to take a break in the congested calendar. And Djokovic – a former ATP Player Council member who co-founded the Professional Tennis Players Association – has now had his say after returning to competition in Shanghai.

“Well, I was personally against the extension of the days of duration of the Masters 1000 events, right? I felt from the very beginning I was against it. Actually, even when I was in the council, I think I was at the time president of the council, so I was not supportive of that. I think for the players it’s not good,” he started.

“From one perspective you could say, I mean, for me at my age right now, to have the days between the tournaments is good. But I think overall for most of the players it just takes away the days in the schedule, in the calendar. Personally, I’m not supportive of that.

“I understand that there is upside to the tournaments and so forth, but as a player I never liked that. So I do empathise or sympathise with players who are against that, because now they are realising, I guess, that it’s not really great.

“But at the same time, look, you know, you always have, it’s an individual sport, so there are choices to be made. In the end of the day you can still make choices. I see some players maybe say there are rules imposed and etcetera.

“But there are rules imposed for bonus. So you can miss the bonus, but it’s the choice that you are willing to make if you want to play less. But then there are exhibitions as well that players are signing up for, so it’s a little bit contradictory.”

It’s not the first time Djokovic has gone into detail about his thoughts on the tennis ecosystem and the season, which seems to be getting longer each year. But the world No. 4 knows there are plenty of nuances and, most importantly, he believes nothing will change unless the players who are complaining take action.

He continued: “Yeah, I guess I’ve been talking about this topic for so many years, you know, this is not first time. And people who know me and know my press conferences and my time in the council, they know that more than 15 years ago, I was talking about us needing to come together and reorganise the schedule and the calendar. Even way before the 30-year deal plan came to realisation with Masters events.

“But, you know, it’s a very long topic, so I don’t know where to start, where to finish, to be honest. It’s very complex, it’s not that simple, you know. I don’t want to sound like I’m supportive or not supportive, because there’s different elements that you have to take in consideration.

“The monopoly that has been created in this sport has been very strong for the last, you know, three, four decades. And there are people who just don’t want to change things in our sport, you know, for the better, in terms of when it comes to the players’ welfare. You know, because everybody works in their own interest. And that’s logical, I guess, business sense.”

Turning his attention to his rivals and colleagues, Djokovic added: “In the end, as a player and someone that has been playing on the highest level for more than 20 years, I can say that the players are not united enough. Players are not participating enough when they should be.

“So they make the comments and they complain, and then they go away. And then if something is wrong, after a certain amount of time they come back again. But you have to invest the time, you have to invest energy yourself, not your agent, not your team, not your parents, not anybody, yourself, to dedicate yourself to understand how the system works, to understand what are the things that can be done to be reversed, to be improved in terms of the players’ interest.

“For that to happen you need the top players particularly, you know, to sit down, roll up their sleeves, and really care a bit more about participating in understanding all of the hot topic, I would say.

“Because going out in the media and talking about this and that, okay, it might stir up some energy or some attention. But in the end of the day it’s not going to change, nothing is going to change, you know? I know it from my personal experience, trust me. So, yeah, it’s quite a complex topic.”