Andy Roddick calls out Carlos Alcaraz for scheduling hypocrisy
By Lee Vowell
Carlos Alcaraz and many other players, such as Daniil Medvedev, have complained about how long the tennis schedule is and how many tournaments are mandatory. If a player skips one of these events, they risk losing ranking, future seeding, and lots of money. Professional tennis players participate in the sport to earn a living, of course.
Alexander Zverev pointed out to the media this year that other sports have far longer offseasons. Tennis basically has December. Other spots are off for four months or more. He is not wrong, and constant court play can cause injuries that require a player to miss months. In other words, the long schedule can cause long-term issues.
Former ATP No. 1 Andy Roddick, and current podcast host of Served with Andy Roddick, finds a flaw in the argument of Alcaraz, specifically. The problem is that the player complains about how much tennis he has to play at sanctioned tournaments, but then he plays lucrative exhibitions in December. Alcaraz does not give himself a chance to rest.
Andy Roddick points out the flaw in Carlos Alcaraz's complaint
This was the case within the season as well when players chose to participate in the Six Kings Slam because the money was so much that it was difficult to say no. Top-ranked Jannik Sinner won the event and took home more than $4 million. Each exhibition pays differently than the others, but Alcaraz would not choose to play in front of an audience if the money was not good.
Roddick's argument is that a player has a right to be upset by how long the season is, but if that player has a chance to rest, they should take it. Otherwise, a player taking part in an exhibition is hypocritical if they also have scheduling complaints.
Roddick said, "I get the criticism of, ‘don’t complain and then go play exhibitions.’ I’m not going to tell you that’s wrong because I think it too...Carlos, let’s say it how it is. He finished on December 6 (after the exhibitions). He had a vacation in the Caribbean with some buddies for a week before he played these exhibitions. He’d already done his relaxation, got in some reps, and obviously got paid a lot of money...What I don’t accept is, ‘Hey, I didn’t have a long enough offseason.’ I don’t want to hear about it in Australia if he’s not feeling great. That’s it. I don’t want to hear about it."
ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi also agrees with Roddick's view. He recently said, "Players choose to play many exhibitions outside the circuit. We don’t see that in other sports. The question is whether you want to invest in the circuit or outside the circuit. Reduce the season? Yes, but it will then be necessary to reduce the number of ATP 250 tournaments. Afterwards, players can also decide to do fewer exhibitions and spend more time at home to rest."
Part of the problem is Carlos Alcaraz is only 21 years old. He has a long career ahead of him. He might risk burnout if he is already tired of how long the year is.