Carlos Alcaraz isn't the only one feeling the strain of tennis' brutal schedule: “I’ve now been away from home for almost a month and a half”

The tennis schedules are becoming too much for many, with Carlos Alcaraz's comments as of late stating his intention of skipping more events becoming a prominent one. This could signal for a chain reaction as Flavio Cobolli speaks up on his own scheduling plans following a devastating defeat at the US Open.

The number five seed sought an opportunity with a very wide open top half draw, but that has been obliterated with some force as Alexander Blockx continues his immense breakout year with am eye-catching 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-0, 6-3 win over the Italian who had nothing left to give on court.

Cobolli won more games in the first set than he did in the final three, sharing a sorry tale at Flushing Meadows that resulted in an early demise from the event. The third set was especially brutal as Blockx took it in 19 minutes while dropping just four points.

This was in the midst of an 11-game run that allowed him to take full control of proceedings as Cobolli haplessly saw his Grand Slam ambitions evaporate in front of him.

The Belgian was very impressive on court, and in his main draw debut at the US Open is in the fourth round, his best result at a major tournament. It was likely to by Taylor Fritz who would challenge him, but surprisingly the American blew a two-set lead and Francisco Cerundolo will now face the 21-year-old for a coveted place in the quarter-finals.

Following his second round victory over Jaime Faria, Alcaraz was very vocal about the scheduling. The Spaniard is playing in his first tournament since the Barcelona Open back in April after suffering a nasty wrist injury. He is most definitely catching the eye in New York with some brilliant tennis, but even he cannot keep up the intensity that he once was completing.

After the match, he had this to say about his upcoming schedule plans. "Honestly, my break was longer than expected," he stated. "Given the packed schedule, I obviously didn't want to stop because of an injury. However, in the future, I will take breaks, longer breaks. Maybe not four months, but one or two months, skipping certain tournaments, because it's impossible to play them all."

This has added another dimension to what was an ongoing topic being openly discussed in the tennis world. With Masters 1000 events being extended and the ATP upping the number of mandatory tournaments, a concerning injury trajectory has aligned with this.

Cobolli, who has played a lot as of late, has openly signalled a change in plan when it comes to upcoming tournaments. “Obviously there are always changes, and that’s also what the team is for," he said in his press conference after the third round defeat. We’re going to carefully analyse, in detail, what’s best for me, both in terms of scheduling and matches and practice."

While committing himself to the big tournaments, the smaller ones may be sacrificed. "Everything will be a little different. Every player is different and knows how far they can go. I’ve probably come close to the limit. Little by little, I may end up playing a bit less. Maybe fewer ATP 250 events, but for the Masters 1000s and the Grand Slams, my presence will always be guaranteed.”

It is not just injury that is on the mind if the Roland Garros finalist. He outlined how long it has been since he was at home, sharing the extent of his time away competing while underlining the fact that it is not the number of tournaments being played, it is the length of them.

“If you look at the number of tournaments and the number of matches we play during the year, it’s not that high," he said. "We’re used to playing that much. The only thing we’re not used to is staying at a tournament for so many days.

"The tournament format has changed, and maybe we still need to get used to it. I’ve now been away from home for almost a month and a half, and even if I had gone all the way here, I would have played fewer than ten matches."

After his Wimbledon quarter-final run, Cobolli briefly competed in Croatia before making the trip to North America at the start of August. He lost in the first round of the Canadian Open, but a semi-final run in Cincinnati was followed by the final of the US Open mixed doubles alongside Belinda Bencic. In his first two singles matches at Flushing Meadows, he has played a total of nine gruelling sets in four days. This could signal one of the reasons for his sudden downfall against Blockx.

"There’s this gap between the number of matches and the time spent away from home," he continued. "During that time, you practice as much as possible with the best players in the world, and you spend a lot of energy, especially mentally. You’re away for a long time, you sleep in a different bed, you travel a lot. Those are a lot of things that, in my opinion, could be managed better.”