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.”
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set