Former world No 4 posts passionate message as she claims players are being pushed to breaking point
The debate over the hectic tennis schedule is a recurring theme in the sport and now former world No 4 Caroline Garcia has suggested the pressure tennis players are under to play in tournaments is pushing their bodies to breaking point.
Garcia sealed the biggest win of her career as she lifted the prestigious WTA Finals title back in 2022, but she has struggled to back up that success over the last couple of years.
That is partly due to ongoing injury issues and now the French star has used her LinkedIn account to highlight what she suggests is the pressure players feel to perform when they are battling with physical issues.
“If you really cared, you’d play through the pain,” was the opening line Garcia used in her post, before she added some context.
“Someone said this to me a few weeks ago after I explained I wasn’t ready to compete. This isn’t an attack on any individual, but rather a reflection on a mindset athletes are conditioned into from a young age: playing injured is somehow honourable or necessary.
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“Don’t get me wrong—greatness demands sacrifice. Pain, discomfort, and struggle are inevitable parts of pursuing excellence. But there’s a line we need to recognize and respect. Recently, I’ve been relying heavily on anti-inflammatories just to manage the pain in my shoulder. Without them, the pain is unbearable. Over the past few months, I’ve received corticoid injections, plasma treatments, and other therapies just to keep competing.
“I’m not sharing this for sympathy or to highlight toughness. Maybe the opposite. I’m questioning: Is it truly worth pushing our bodies to such extremes? Is enduring chronic pain in your forties—an outcome of years spent pushing athletic limits—something to be celebrated, or have we collectively taken sports too far?
“Making a living as an athlete is an incredible privilege, one I’m deeply grateful for. But relentlessly exceeding the body’s limits just to stay competitive? Perhaps that’s a boundary we shouldn’t cross.
“Maybe many of the victories glorified by society aren’t actually worth winning after all.”
They were comments that will resonate with a lot of tennis players, with Carlos Alcaraz among the high profile names that have criticised the tennis schedule.
World No 2 Iga Switaek has appealed to tennis cheifs to give players more time off in between tournaments and when she lost against Mirra Andreeva in Dubai in February, the Pole was quick to claim scheduling issues were the primary problem,
“For sure it’s a calendar thing,” said Swiatek. “Like, we’re not going to be able to be consistent for many years playing week by week.
“Also, it’s not like some time ago that outside of, like, top-20 players, they were just getting destroyed more.
“Now anybody can win these tournaments. It is like that since couple of years. But I feel like for sure the calendar is not helping.
“Again, like, we need to switch continents, we need to switch surfaces, we need to switch the balls. Yeah, it’s not easy. I’m not surprised.”
The schedule debate in tennis will rumble on and with ATP Masters and WTA 1000 tournaments now extended over almost two weeks, the top players are getting even less time to recover from big events.
