The Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic said Thursday that discussions about a reorganization of the calendar of the tennis have existed for at least 15 years and that their companions “are still not sufficiently united.
The number of tournaments played by elite tennis players returned to the spotlight this week, after the numerous injuries during the Beijing tournament and after the Spaniard Carlos Alcarazcurrent world number 1, will give up the Shanghai Masters 1000 to rest.
Alcaraz and other winners of Grand Slam tournaments such as the American Coco Gauff or the Polish Iga Swiatek have criticized this week the tennis calendar and the number of tournaments they play.
In Shanghai, where he lost last year to Jannik Sinner, Djokovic said it is a “very complex” issue and that similar discussions have been going on for years.
“More than 15 years ago I was talking about how we needed to unite and reorganize the calendar,” declared the 38-year-old tennis player, winner of 24 Grand Slam tournaments.
“It’s an individual sport… and in the end you can still make decisions,” he said.
However, “there are people who simply do not want to change things in our sport for the better… in regards to the well-being of the players,” he added.
The players “are not united enough” or devoting enough time and energy to trying to make change happen, he said.
“You especially need the top players to sit down, roll up their sleeves and really care,” he added.
The Serbian will enter the fray in Shanghai on Friday against Croatian Marin Cilic, world number 94.
Djokovic will thus return to the courts after a four-week break, after reducing the number of tournaments he plays to lengthen his career.
His last appearance was at the last US Open, at the beginning of September, when he lost in the semifinals against Alcaraz.
