ATP
Alcaraz joins Swiatek in slamming Tour scheduling
Carlos Alcaraz has added his voice to complaints from former No. 1 Iga Swiatek that the ATP and WTA calendars have become too crowded, with players playing the price through injury.
The top-ranked Spaniard withdrew from the current Shanghai Masters for rest after winning the Tokyo title while carrying an ankle injury from the first round.
With a controversial master in action which increases the length of most major events – Grand Slams already stretch to at least a fortnight anyway – to nearly two weeks, top names are pushing back due to simple exhaustion.
Six-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek, the world No. 2, has said she may have to consider breaking strict WTA rules on mandatory participation in at least 10 1000-level events in order to maintain her health and fitness in the face of a schedule which stretches to 11 months for some competitors.
Alcaraz left no doubt as to his sentiments on the touchy issue.
.‘I agree with Iga, I think that the schedule is really tight. They have to do something with the schedule. I think there are too many mandatory tournaments, too many in a row,” the 22-year-old said.
“They put in some rules that we have to play Master 1000s, 500 tournaments, whatever it is. But there are too many rules that we as tennis players are not allowed to have a choice if we have to play or not.”
Alcaraz added: “To be honest, I have to consider in the future if I have to skip some mandatory tournaments just to maintain my physical condition and good shape.
“Obviously it’s more than the physical condition. I think mentally it’s really demanding as well, playing so many mandatory tournaments in a row or playing so many tournaments without having days to rest up mentally.”
The Spaniard said he would join Swiatek in making his schedule to his own needs even if it meant missing some required events.
“I will consider skipping some mandatory tournaments to the benefit of myself mentally. I agree with Iga and I think a lot of players are gonna do that.”
Swiatek, who lost in the Beijing fourth round with a shocking performance against Emma Navarro which included 70 unforced errors, seems likely to pull out from the required Wuhan 1000 event which begins on Monday.
“Unfortunately, I think the Asian Swing is the hardest part because you feel like the season is going to finish soon, but you still need to push,” the Pole said.
“Maybe I will have to choose some tournaments and skip them, even though they are mandatory.. the WTA with all these mandatory rules, they made this pretty crazy for us.
“I don’t think any top player will actually be able to achieve this, for example, playing the six 500 tournaments. It’s just impossible to squeeze it in the schedule.
“I think we have to be smart about it, not really care about the rules and just think what’s healthy for us. Yeah, it’s tough.
“The only thing I can do now, when I decided I’m going to play all these mandatory tournaments, is to just take care of my body, take care of the recovery. I have a good team around me also that is helping me with that. I’m experienced enough to know kind of what to do. So physically, I am good.
“There are a lot of injuries. I think it is because the season is too long and too intense.”
Two-time champion Casper Ruud had to work for more than two and a half hours to overcome Jaime Faria, the Portuguese who put out Stan Wawrinka in the first round at the Gstaad Swiss Open on Thursday.
Faria was riding the momentum from Tuesday’s defeat of three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka, set to retire this season and beaten in an opening match at his home venue.
Faria had his eye on a second upset as he faced Ruud, who lifted the trophy at this elite alpine village in 2021 and 2022.
Ruud ahd to dodge a bullet and mount a comeback to get through the second-round test against the Portuguese.
After dropping the opening set in a tiebreaker, Ruud played patiently as Faria saved five break points in the sixth game of the second set before failing on the sixth.
Ruud then pulled away for a 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-2 victory, his first since Roland Garros.
“Sometimes it is hard to say when you get a good feeling and you start to win some games in a row,” the winner said.
“You try from the first game to the last, but suddenly something clicked in the middle of the second for me, luckily.”
He added: “I had to really fight hard and if I played one bad game in the second and he serves well, it could be over and it would be time to go home. But luckily I can extend the stay.”
The Scandinavian could join Spaniards Sergi Bruguera and Alex Corretja as three-time winners in the Alps, with Ruud now standing 10-1 here over his career.
Stefanost Tsitsipas said he slept soundly prior to finishing off a darkness-interrupted match on Thursday as he eliminated local Jerome Kym at the Gstaad Swiss Open.
The Greek who once cracked third in the world and the 186th-ranked Swiss returned to the clay after darkness on Wednesday night left them hanging at 5-all in the third set.
Tsitsipas revved up his game from the resumption to emerge into the quarter-finals 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5).
The second seed now standing 85th in the world after several poor seasons and a split with his father as his coach, said getting his rest was not a problem after the interruption.
“It was strange going to bed and not being finished. I visualised what I wanted to do, my shot patterns.
“It worked out pretty well.
“I had a good night’s sleep, I was not too stressed and I recovered to get ready for the continuation.”
After saving break points in the first game on Thursday, Tsitsipas triumphed in the final-set tiebreaker
“I’m relieved I was able to save a couple of break points.. I put my game together and made it )victory) happen again.”
The Greek now faces off against Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech for a semi-final spot.
“I’m expecting a lot of big serves, the altitude (1050m) helps. I’ll try to build consistency around my own serve.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas was handed a reprieve due to fading light with his second round match at the Swiss Open Gstaad stopped with the Greek deadlocked with local Jerome Kym 6-4, 6-7 (2), 5-5.
The math had to be halted as night fell and electronic linecalling computers could not read the path of the ball on the clay in contrast to humans who could have carried on for a few additional minutes..
The 27-year-old Tsitsipas was taking the worst of it in the concluding stage after a promising start.against a journeyman opponent ranked 186.
Tsitsipas, his ranking down to 85th after once standing third in the world, lashed out verbally in the last few games, apparently frustrated with his racquet reactions.
The Greek was quick to make his point of an overnight stoppage to the chair umpire while Kym – who reached 5-all with a love service hold – left the court with a defiant fist pump for his public in this alpine resort village.
The cutoff came after just over two hours of play, with the contest to be concluded on Thursday. The winner reaches the Friday quarter-finals.
Tsitsipas produced his last notable result in April with a fourth-round showing at the Madrid Masters,
He is aiming for his second quarter-final of the season after Doha in February and his 2025 Barcelona 15 months ago.
Tsitsipas stands 10-1 vs. players ranked outside the top 100 this season with a sole loss to No. 104 Italian Matteo Arnaldi at the Roland Garros second round.
History repeats for Argentine spoiler in Gstaad
Ruud survives a scare to secure Gstaad quarters
Tsitsipas finishes off Kym after overnight pause
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