World number two Alexander Zverev believes that there is no ‘short-term’ solution to players being forced to play so much tennis. The 27-year-old is regarded as one of the best players currently playing in men’s tennis in the singles category, along with Italy’s Jannik Sinner, Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz and Serbia’s Novak Djokovic.
In recent years, many players have raised their voices about playing too much tennis. Those include the likes of women’s world number one Iga Swiatek and men’s world number three Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz. Zverev, currently participating in the Laver Cup, became the latest addition to this club as he spoke about the number of tennis players forced to play every year.
The German tennis star was asked by a journalist why the players do not take a firmer stance over the issue and take actions such as going on strike, which could force the tennis bodies into taking action about it. In response, Zverev argued that these things are easier said than done as doing that will not have any impact on the organisers; in fact, it will only impact the players who will lose the money and be replaced soon. The current world number two also believes there is no ‘short-term’ solution to this issue.
“This week we can talk, and we all agree on many things, but we can’t change anything,” he said. “It’s all about money. Tournaments have licenses, and we can’t do anything against that. It’s impossible to eliminate tournaments just like that; we would have to compensate all those events because they have their licenses. It’s not viable. Okay, I’ll listen to you, and we’ll boycott. We stop competing, stage a boycott, and then what? Do you think that would change anything? We’d lose money, other players would take our place, and nothing would change in the schedule. I only trust the steps being taken by the PTPA to make ourselves heard, but this is an issue that has no short-term solution.”
1 - Since the ATP rankings were first published in 1973, Alexander Zverev is the first ATP top 10 player to lose matches from two sets up (exc. retirements) at three GS events - US Open F 2020, Australian Open SF 2024, Wimbledon R16 2024. Block. #Wimbledon | @Wimbledon @atptour
