With top players complaining about their punishing schedule, is it time for the ATP to rethink its calendar? Absolutely! Firstly, tennis player are under far more stress than sportsmen from other fields, and here's why.

All of us have seen cricketers play international cricket right until their late 30s. Some of them have even gotten better and fitter as they have gotten older – Matthew Hayden, Anil Kumble and Steve Waugh. Even Formula 1 drivers like Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard have shown that age is no bar for performance.

Sadly, tennis players do not have that luxury. Being far more athletic a game, the wear and tear of the constant running around and the strenuous activity take their toll sooner rather than later on tennis players. Add to this the meager resting period between tournaments, not only do they burn out sooner but are more susceptible to injuries as well.

'Players must realise that while the handling of an injury is important, the perfect timing of the return to action matters even more'


And this is certainly a new phenomenon: champs of the older generation like Steffi Graf  played until she was 30, John McEnroe was active till he was 33, and both Boris Becker and all-time great Pete Sampras were active till their respective 31st birthdays.

Now young, fit players like 23-year-old Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick have begun complaining about the hectic ATP schedule. The past few years have seen players like Martina Hingis being forced to retire at 22; but it is Justin Henin’s surprising retirement at 25 which has made the world stand up and finally question the logic behind the ATP’s decision to pack the calendar with continuous events, not allowing any rest for the players.

With the age at which players enter the ATP circuit becoming younger and younger – even before the body is fully mature, the older players are slowly but surely finding it difficult to keep pace, literally! This means that the actual period of active years in tennis for a professional player is reducing.

The costs for a tennis player to stay on the ciruit too are mounting – with a professional management company handling them, special coaches for each area of the game, physiotherapists, trainers, family members and traveling costs for the entourage  – all push the ever rising expenses of tennis players much higher.

While top 100 players might not find this a problem, it is upcoming players outside the top 100 or 200 who are under pressure to earn more prize money, which pushes them into more and more events without giving themselves any rest.

The ATP must take a strong view of this and decide to cut down events. As many as six tournaments have been squeezed into two weeks - Moscow, Stockholm and Vienna in one; Basel, St. Petersburg and Lyon in the other. And 2008 saw the Monte Carlo Open, the Rome Masters and the Hamburg Masters held between April 18 and May 18.

Three clay tournaments in four weeks! Really? And all three of them warm-up events for the French Open, which can give valuable championship points to players to help their seeding; it was hardly surprising to see virtually the same lot of players in all the three events.

To make matters worse, this year is an Olympic year. Add to this the various other tournaments like the Fed Cup, the Davis Cup and the Masters Open towards the end of the year in December and we have a killer of a schedule with the Australian Open knocking on the doors next January.

Players, too, must realise that while the handling of an injury is important, the perfect timing of the return to action matters even more – starting too early before recovery delays healing even further and players risk permanent damage

But is the ATP entirely at fault? Don’t the players have to decide which tournament to enter and which avolid? While the governing body will certainly want newer locations to host tournaments to spread the popularity of the sport, it is up to the players to decide their participation.

Should they please their agent or listen to their bodies? It is quite silly to see a player travel from the US to Asia for an indoor tournament, then off for a Davis Cup-tie and then to Europe for a tournament on a different surface; and in response to an early exit, he points fingers at the ATP’s schedule.

A player can certainly be his own worst enemy, and inexperienced younger players can destroy their careers with a few wrong steps.

The ATP should decide on a fixed period in the year during which tourneys are held, this including an ‘off season’ – much like the Formula 1 calendar; which would give sufficient rest to players. A small reduction in the number of tournaments and ideal spacing between them would also help. Players must choose wisely the places they wish to play to prolong their career further.

The way things are going, it won't be surprising to see tennis go the gymnastics way with players coming in when they are 15 and out before they are 25.