Having played a tour-high 97 matches last year, Novak Djokovic might seem an unlikely advocate for players’ health, but the super-fit Serbian reiterated calls for a shorter tennis season yesterday.
Djokovic, whose Australian Open defense last year ended abruptly in the quarters after he retired with heat exhaustion, said that top players were agitating for a longer break between seasons to preserve their bodies and careers.
“We are trying to fight for the players rights and I think it is very important that people understand how we feel,” the Serbian world No. 3 told reporters. “Listening to the top players, you get the fair point ... [The season] is just too long. And definitely, having five weeks, four weeks ... before the start of the new season is so, so little.”
PHOTO: AFP
“We have to have at least two months and that’s the minimum, I mean, considering the season that we are playing and the amount of matches and the level we are playing,” he said.
BATTLE
Players have been at loggerheads with tour officials for several years over the length of the season, with sponsors and promoters battling to keep their tournament dates in the calendar.
Djokovic plays his first competitive match of the year at the Kooyong Classic in Melbourne today, an invitational tournament seen as a reliable form guide for the Australian Open, which starts on Monday.
The 22-year-old, elected to the ATP Players Council in 2008, said player representatives would meet officials in Australia, where they would press their demands.
Djokovic was backed by Spanish world No. 9 nine Fernando Verdasco, who allowed himself 10 days’ rest before taking a two-week training camp in Las Vegas to prepare for the new season.
SITTING OUT
“I think every player would like to have at least two weeks off and then have more time also to prepare, you know. Not to be in a rush,” the 26-year-old said. “I didn’t play Abu Dhabi, I didn’t play Doha that I was supposed to play because, you know, to finish in the Davis Cup on the seventh [of December] is impossible,” the Spaniard said, referring to Spain’s 5-0 win over Czech Republic that preceded season-openers.
Djokovic, who allowed himself two weeks’ break before plunging back into training, said the punishing calendar had even cut short his acting ambitions.
“I got offered to be a part of this show which ... is about the king who is one of the biggest names in our [Serbian] history,” he said. “He was assassinated in France — I hate that part. But for now I’m going to skip it because the scheduling is too busy for me.”
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