Fritz wants to slow the tennis hamster wheel

Taylor Fritz on Tuesday called for a two-month ATP off-season as he prepared to make his start as top seed at the Swiss Indoors.

The world No. 4 making his fifth start in the riverside city of Basel where Switzerland, France and Germany meet, made a plea to stop the tennis merry-go-round which is breaking players physically.

The epidemic of post-US Open injuries grew as recent Shanghai Masters finalist Arthur Rinderknech withdrew in Basel due to exhaustion.

Fritz said that the gruelling pace for players has to be curtailed.

He voiced his opinion though after coming directly from the multi-million dollar unofficial Saudi exhibition last week, where he banked a minimum USD 1.2 million “participation fee.”

Still, the Californian insisted that the season is too long.

“We need a minimum two-month off-season,” he said. “That’s not really asking for much at all.

“If you can actually make it through a year, (the pause) gives you time to get the body fresh for the next season.

“(Right now), with the ATP Finals, Davis Cup and a start at the United Cup (in Australia), it’s a three-week off-season… then you do it again for another 11 months.

“There is no time to get healthy or be ready for the next season. It’s not sustainable.”

Fritz said the years of grinding would get any top player down, with injuries to world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and second-ranked Jannik Sinner this past autumn as the perfect examples.

“We play so many mandatory events – the Slams, the Masters and now five mandatory 500-level events… you’re looking at 18-19 tournaments no matter what.”

Plus all the travel… there are not enough gaps in the year to get yourself healthy if you are banged up or injured.”

The American revealed: “I’ve carried injuries for almost this entire year. I would need four to six weeks of stoppage to fully heal what I have.

“But if I warm up correctly and work with my physio and take anti-inflammatories I can play through it.”