The 2025 ATP season has indeed been extremely punishing for players, with the calendar stretching them to their limits. The ATP season is already known as one of the longest and most physically demanding in all of the sport. More so because it continues for eleven long months and demands athletes to sign up for constant traveling, a variety of surfaces, and very little recovery time. And now, recent statistics reveal shocking data for the current season.

Just months ago, in May 2025, Australia’s best, Alex de Minaur, voiced his opinion against the “grueling” schedule, demanding it be shortened. Since then, a number of players, including Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz, have voiced similar complaints. The physical toil and exhaustion, and the mental demands have already pushed several of the top players towards fatigue and injury and mid-tournament retirements.

Fans are already gearing up to witness the ATP Finals, which are set to begin on November 9 in Turin. Out of the eight spots for the finals, four have already been filled by Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, and Alexander Zverev. But a recent X post by tennis fan @AnnaK_4ever has revealed how, out of the top 30 players in the live ATP Race standings, only six have fortunately managed to complete every tournament without a setback.

Out of 30 players, twenty-four of them have been forced to pull out either before a scheduled round or they retired mid-match owing to fatigue or injury. The only six who have avoided that fate are Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz, Alex de Minaur, Andrey Rublev, and Joao Fonseca. After de Minaur was defeated by Alexander Bublik at the French Open, he added that the schedule was “not normal.”

Even Carlos Alcaraz has continued to be vocally opposed to the ATP calendar with his latest remarks. “Well, I don’t have an exact number of matches that we should play. I mean, I cannot answer with an exact number. However, they obviously need to do something with the calendar,” he said, before adding that players currently did not have adequate time to rest or prepare with tournaments coming in thick and fast.

Adding to this, just weeks ago, in the first week of October, the ATP Shanghai Masters was hit by a number of major withdrawals. The grueling weather conditions acted as an added reason alongside the already packed schedule.

Carlos Alcaraz opens up on Shanghai withdrawal ahead of upcoming ATP Finals 

The statistics have further revealed how this year has had the highest percentage of matches ending in retirement since 1990. The introduction of the new two-week-long Masters format was partly to blame, impacting the fitness of players in an already bloated calendar.  Even Carlos Alcaraz, too, admitted how 2025 turned out to be “totally different.” Just weeks ago, Alcaraz was forced to withdraw from the ATP Shanghai Masters owing to his ankle injury.

Now, as he gears up for a showdown in the Paris Masters, the Spaniard reflected on his situation during Shanghai. Alcaraz added, “Obviously, I didn’t want to withdraw from Shanghai. It’s a really important tournament for me and for the players.” 

He further stated in the presser, “But I had to heal my body, and I think I wasn’t ready to play another tournament in a row. So I just preferred to come back home, recover the ankle, and try to be in good shape for this time of the year.” Already assured of his spot at the ATP Finals, Carlos Alcaraz now sets his sights on reclaiming the ATP Year-End No. 1 title for a second time and the ATP Finals trophy.