Dan Evans hits out at top stars after Alcaraz and Swiatek complaints on major talking point

Former British No 1 Dan Evans has sent a firm message to top players who complain that the tennis schedule is too demanding.
A number of ATP and WTA stars have criticised the length of the tennis season and number of events on the tour calendars in recent years.
Five-time major champion Carlos Alcaraz has frequently voiced his concerns about the schedule and argued last year it was causing injuries.
“I’m the kind of player who thinks there is a lot of tournaments during the year, mandatory tournaments and probably during the next few years gonna be even more tournaments, more mandatory tournaments,” the Spaniard said.
“So, I mean, probably they are going to kill us in some way. Right now, they are showing up a lot of injuries because of the ball, because of the calendar, because of a lot of things.”
World No 3 Alexander Zverev shares the same view, having said: “most sports have four months off, sometimes even six. Our schedule is crazy, and it’s getting more crazy every year, which is scary.”
Iga Swiatek, a five-time Grand Slam winner, has also made her feelings clear on the topic.
“Obviously it is not our decision, but for sure I think we have too many tournaments in the season. It’s not going to end well,” the Pole said during the 2024 Cincinnati Open.
“It makes tennis less fun for us. Obviously, I love playing in all these places, but it’s pretty exhausting. Most of the players will tell you that. Especially when you are playing at the higher level and going to the end of tournaments.
“I don’t think it should be like that because we deserve to rest a little bit more. Maybe people are going to hate me for saying that.”
In an interview with BBC Sport at the Queen’s Club Championships, Evans expressed his view that players “moaning” about the schedule are lacking perspective.
“I think first and foremost we’re in a fortunate position,” said the world No 199, who has been ranked as high as 21st.
“When I hear about the schedule [complaints], these guys don’t have to play every week. You are allowed to not play. The reason they play is so they pick up their bonus pool.
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“We’ve got to be careful moaning about it, we have a lot of work, which is good. There’s lots of people in the world struggling for work, so we have to be careful harping on about the tough schedule.
“We are allowed to take weeks off, we are independent contractors, so that’s where I stand on it.”
The 35-year-old Brit addressed the issue again after his 7-5, 6-2 opening round upset win against world No 13 Frances Tiafoe in London.
“Everybody is entitled to their opinion on the schedule, but the tour has been like that for however many years,” Evans said.
“The top, top guys schedule properly, and that’s, you know, that’s I guess what’s part of the issue, I imagine, is how people schedule how many weeks they want to play, how many weeks they don’t want to play.
“Me personally, I see the weeks before Grand Slams are way stronger than they were maybe ten years ago. There is more top players playing. I don’t know if that’s to try and pick up cheap points, but, you know, there are these massive teams now.
“They are allowed to have some input into it. There are loads of weeks in the year you can take off or train or whatnot. That’s up to them.
“Anybody outside the top 15 don’t have those views, because the bottom line is anybody outside the top 15 need to play every week. People need working opportunities. If you are at 60 in the world with more than two people on your staff each week, you need to make money.
“So you can’t just not have tournaments every week. They need tournaments. That’s it. Can’t just listen to the top guys on scheduling. Just because they are better than us at tennis doesn’t mean their voice is louder to talk.
“That’s what I’ll say. I’m more than happy to have the conversation with whoever wants it.”
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