Rewrite the script: Djoko calls for calendar reform

Novak Djokovic wants a serious re-think of a bloated tennis calendar, with the 24-time Grand Slam champion suggesting cutting back on the extended Masters 1000 events currently  clogging the ATP Tour..

The 39-year-old made the plea after fighting into the second round at Wimbledon, defeating China’s Wu Yibing in four sets as the tournament curfew approached Monday night.

Djokovic got in before the 11 p.m. witching hour, instigated in 2009 to give local residents in this posh, tree-shaded suburb their nighty rest.

But the energetic winner launched his call for reform after midnight, saying something had to give on the Tours due to an outbreak of player injuries – many due to overplaying.

World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz is missing the tournament after injuring his writ last April with a possible late summer return date being floated.

With all but two of the ATP Masters events now stretching to nearly a fortnight from their former seven-day classic format, the seven-time Wimbledon winner knew exactly where to point the finger.

“Tennis really needs a reset on a bigger level. Our Tours respectively are not
functioning well at all,” Djokovic said.

“A lot of things happening backstage, meetings, relationships are not going in the right direction.”

The last of the iconic Big 3 players from the past two decades added: “Grand Slams are the pillars. Grand Slams are always going to be Grand Slams, the most important tournaments we have in our sport.”

Due to the Balkanisation of tennis into several ruling camps – ATP, WTA, the Grand Slam Committee, the four majors, London’s World Tennis federation – achieving any kind of coherent change is a huge ask.

Djokovic helped form the player Organisation PTPA, which basically fizzled out and is now involved in legal actions against the Tour and Grand Slams over calendar reform and prize money distribution.

Lawyers have become the main benefactors of the squabble while progress on the issues remains a mirage. 

Veteran Djokovic, who can pick and choose his events, has stepped away from the fracus and now sits on the political sidelines.

Player discontent with back-to-back Masters events which stretch almost as long as Grand Slams is growing stronger while chronic injury absences are on the rise.

“The Tours have to look into the formats, rules, calendar – there are a lot of complaints,” he said. “I feel we are trying to Band-Aid on everything. Trying to fix something,…

“What we have to do if we want this sport to really improve ..in the next decades, is – with all the key players – see what we can do.

“There is a lot more conflict within the governing bodies of our sport than there is unity.”

Djokovic said possible solutions include attracting a younger audience – current average 61 years – by presenting a more rapid-fire, modern product.

“Young people are not going to sit for four hours and five hours and watch tennis every day. It’s a short attention span. We have to see what the market is about. How do we get to them?

“We have to change the format, the Tours, have the tournaments have shorter matches, more dynamic, be able to have something more interesting and
shorter length ’cause this is too long.”

But the veteran would leave the four majors to play their classic best-of-five-set format for men while modifying the day-to-day ATP events.