The recent withdrawal of key players like Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, and Jack Draper from the upcoming Canadian Open sent shockwaves through the tennis world. Each cited physical issues that will sideline them from the tour for a while.
While the news came as a shock, it also reignited concerns about the tour’s often-criticized hectic schedule, an issue recently echoed by tennis analyst and journalist Gill Gross.
Scheduling Concerns Raised by Analyst in the Wake of Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, and Carlos Alcaraz’s Canadian Open Withdrawal
The North American hard-court swing began just shortly after the grass-court season wrapped up at Wimbledon. Sinner, who took a fall at the London Major and injured his right elbow, withdrew from the Canadian Open. Djokovic pulled out due to a groin issue, while Draper, still recovering from a left arm injury, opted to skip all lead-up events to the US Open. Meanwhile, Alcaraz prioritized rest to be in peak condition for the New York Major.
In light of the update, tennis analyst Gross openly criticized the scheduling, stating that the withdrawals were unsurprising given how the calendar had been laid out.
“Yeah of course they have. What did they think was going to happen?” He asked in his recent clip shared on Threads.
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Gross added that players face significant physical and mental fatigue, as there’s little room for rest between the Masters 1000 events in March, the French Open, and Wimbledon.
“You have constant mandatory tournaments from the start of March through Wimbledon. The channel double in particular, is a massive drain on the players because after Roland Garros you really can’t take much of a break. So players have always looked at this post-Wimbledon period as a chance to take an extended break, reset the mind, reset the body ahead of the North American hard-court swing,” he said.
The Canadian Open confirmed last year that this year’s edition would run for 12 days, while Cincinnati expanded to 14 days this year. Gross criticized the decision to push both hard-court events closer to Wimbledon’s conclusion to maintain a week’s gap before the US Open.
“What have they done this year? They have expanded Cincinnati and Canada, making them 10-11-day events. There’s now only two and a half weeks between the end of Wimbledon and the start of Canada,” he added.
Concerns over tennis’ demanding schedule are far from new. Several top players, including reigning Wimbledon champion Iga Świątek, Alexander Zverev, Draper, and Alcaraz, have voiced how the hectic calendar and limited recovery time strain their bodies. In fact, Norwegian star Casper Ruud, who played with a swollen knee at the French Open in May, bluntly described the tour as a ‘rat race.’
Gill Gross Believes Compressed Schedule Will Deter Top Players From Canadian Open Amid Sinner, Djokovic, and Alcaraz’s Withdrawal
Gross added that the current schedule will discourage top players from entering the Canadian Open, which was already the most frequently skipped Masters 1000 event. He also warned that this pattern will likely repeat annually.
“That is not going to be a recipe to draw top players and actually entice them to play Canada, which was already the Masters 1000 event that was probably getting skipped more often than any of the others. But this is just too much of a squeeze, and I think we’re going to see this every year consistently,” he added.
The wave of high-profile withdrawals also drew attention from tennis fans online, with some criticizing the tour’s scheduling as a key factor leading to the situation.
