We’re almost a week through Wimbledon and already we’ve seen a number of high-profile casualties in the men’s and women’s draw, with just four of the top 10 seeds remaining in the men’s draw going into day six.

Several players have cited fatigue. Novak Djokovic, the world No.3 and third seed at Wimbledon, partly offered that up as an excuse in his post-match interview after suffering a straight-sets defeat by former world No.1 Marat Safin in the second round. But does he have a point?

Djokovic has played a huge number of tournaments this year, picking up two Masters series wins and also the Australian Open at the beginning of the year. But world No.2 Rafael Nadal has played even more games, yet he hasn’t complained on the back of beating Roger Federer in the final of the French Open before toppling Djokovic in the final at Queen’s Club on grass a week later.

A punishing schedule is dictated by how much you want to play tennis, and how much you need to do to maintain or improve on your world ranking. There are more clay-court tournaments than any other surface, and if clay isn’t your game, then perhaps players shouldn’t go unless they’re Masters events where serious prize money, ranking points and the chance of playing in the Masters Series Final at the end of the year are at stake.

The pressures in the game come from coaches and sponsors who want the players they work with to be everywhere. Your sponsor isn’t going to take too kindly to you missing a tournament that they also sponsor because you’d rather have a week or two off to prepare for another event later in the month, but the real pressure has to be to remain at the top of the game.

Federer has been the world No.1 for over four years now, while Nadal has been world No.2 for the last three years. For the likes of Djokovic, Nikolay Davydenko, David Ferrer, Andy Roddick and other players making up the top 20, there is a pressure on them from all angles to try and break the top two before Federer calls it a day, or to at least be in a position to take the No.1 or 2 spot when he does.

Because of Federer’s dominance over those years, it’s going to take a massive effort to do that. Even when he stops playing he’s still going to be in the top 20 for some time until other players overhaul his ranking points, unless he does a Justine Henin and asks to be removed from the rankings upon retirement.

Admittedly the year is long, with only a few weeks break possible between tournaments, and the ATP and WTA should look at the external pressures placed on players from coaches and sponsors and other parties to be at every tournament and playing well.

The bottom line is, if you’re injured, you shouldn’t be playing tournaments. If you’re tired and need a break, take a break. Your ranking might slip if you fail to enter a tournament based on your performance the previous year, but it you come back stronger for other tournaments giving yourself a better chance of winning that one instead of going out in the opening rounds.

The ATP could help by changing the calendar of events, but there is only so much control they can have over the players who would still likely play as many events as they can, regardless of what time of year they are.

It’s worrying that many players go into tournaments knowing they’re injured or won’t be able to play at their best for whatever reason. In team sports, if you’re not fit, physically or mentally, chances are you won’t be played, and so it should be with tennis, but the players have to take control. They’re the ones going out there and putting their bodies on the line for the sake of ranking points and money.