Australian Pro Takes Aim at ATP With a 2-Word Comment After Intriguing Stats Expose Scheduling Crisis

The tennis’s worst and longest-standing issue? The hectic scheduling of tournaments. Players struggling to maintain their physical form, are often feeling the stress of constant travel across continents. For example, players had to arrive in Sydney just weeks after wrapping up their ATP and WTA Finals in Turin and Saudi Arabia. Amidst this turmoil, Aussie star Thanasi Kokkinakis shared his opinion. His sarcastic take on the situation highlights players’ profound challenges in coping with the demanding calendar.

Kokkinakis last participated in the Challenger Sydney tournament in November. After that, he had to gear up for his 2025 Australian Open tournament in less than two months. Kokkinakis had plans to participate in the 2025 Brisbane International. However, a nagging hip injury forced him to withdraw from the tournament where he received a wildcard this season. Forced to pull out of the event due to pain, Kokkinakis expressed disappointment. His frustration reached a point when author, Bastien Fachan highlighted tennis got only 4 days of off-season in 2024. “Last point of the 2024 tennis season: December 22, 9:38pm (Jeddah time) First point of the 2025 tennis season: December 27, 10:09am (Perth time) Duration of this year’s tennis offseason: 4 days, 7 hours, 31 minutes,” wrote Fachan. Seeing Fachan’s statement, Kokkinakis couldn’t stop himself but dropping his opinion.

This Aussie player tweeted on X, “That’s healthy.” Although brief, the sarcasm in Kokkinakis’ statement wasn’t too hard for tennis fans to spot. He was disappointed about his Brisbane International ordeal. It happened because he couldn’t get enough time to recover physically. As a result, he had no choice but to choose between either Brisbaneor Australian Open.

“Sad to miss the Brisbane International this year. Dealing with a small hip issue that needs some more time, but hopefully back for the rest of the summer.” he wrote on his social media highlighting that his dedication to remain fit for the season’s first major tournament forced him to take this decision. Despite this decision, Kokkinakis is still scheduled to play the Adelaide International (an event he triumphed three years ago), which will start on the 6th of January. 

Although Kokkinakis withdrew from a tournament for the Australian Open, he will have little time for recovery since the Major event starts on January 12th. The ATP star’s statement revealed his frustration shedding light on the hectic scheduling of tournaments, something that Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek have already spoken about. During his China Open pres conference, Carlos Alcaraz delved deeper into the issue and dropped an interesting comment.

Carlos Alcaraz finds the ATP Tour calendar very “tight”

Alcaraz raised concerns about the hectic scheduling highlighting how players are not speaking about it openly. However, sticking to his previous statement, this Spaniard player said, “I’ve seen and I’ve hear a lot of players complain about the schedule, about the calendar as well. Didn’t see after my words, after this I didn’t hear, I didn’t seen people or players talk about that. I’ve seen it before, before my words. I hear about in Jannik’s [Sinner] press conference here, he talk about it a little bit. He didn’t complain as much as he did, he didn’t complain big about the calendar. It depends as well about the players. I’m talking about that. Probably a few players, a lot of players are not going in my side; a lot of them going to be in my side complaining about the calendar, that it is so tight.” 

Alcaraz also pointed out their exhibition matches alongside important tournaments and how it kept them busy throughout the year. The hectic scheduling of tennis is truly delivering problems regarding player’s mental and physical health. However, the ATP and WTA stars are still trying their best to keep up with the calendar and offer their best performances showcasing what this sport means to them.