"These guys never stop": Former French Open winner blames poor schedule for Carlos Alcaraz's recent injury

Former French Open winner Adriano Panatta has blamed the schedule for Carlos Alcaraz’s injury. The 21-year-old, who is already regarded as one of the best players currently playing in men’s tennis in the singles category, announced on Thursday that he will not feature in the ongoing Madrid Open after suffering an injury during the Barcelona Open final where he lost to Denmark’s Holger Rune in straight sets.

The development is a huge setback for the Spaniard, who was hoping to close the gap with the reigning world number one, Italy’s Jannik Sinner, who is currently serving a three-month ban because of having an agreement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) after failing two dope tests in March last year. The 23-year-old is set to return just before the start of the Rome Masters next month.

Former world number four Panatta has been recently quoted in a report by Tennis 365 where he blamed the busy schedule for Alcaraz’s injury. The 74-year-old, who lifted the Roland Garros title back in 1976, was of the opinion that with such a tight schedule, players should only focus on big events, including four Grand Slams and ATP 1000 events.

“He certainly disappointed in Barcelona,” said Panatta. “Then I read that the Spaniard complains about the Masters 1000 that last two weeks, but let’s look carefully at his program. After Monte Carlo, he went to Barcelona, ​​then he [was planning to] do Madrid, Rome and Paris without interruption. These guys never stop. Let’s think about it: is it a calendar problem or a programming problem because he always plays? I think that the goal for tennis players at this level should be the four Grand Slam tournaments and then another seven to eight important tournaments among the various Masters 1000. They should focus only on those. You can’t always play and you can’t do every tournament at your best. Not even someone like Alcaraz who has an incredible physique can do it. Furthermore, these players get hurt often and it happens because they hit too hard and move at incredible speeds.”