Tennis has always been a sport of precision—on the court and, occasionally, off it. But as the 2025 season reaches its climax, the focus has shifted from rackets and rallies to schedules and frustrations. From Grand Slams to Masters events, 2025 has already seen its fair share of withdrawals and last-minute changes. Talking about the hectic schedule, Carlos Alcaraz said, “I think that the schedule is really tight. They have to do something with the schedule. I think there are too many mandatory tournaments, too many in a row.” Then, recently, after witnessing Holger Rune’s horrifying injury at the Nordic Open, his mom, Aneke Rune, labeled tennis as a “relentless treadmill.”

She claimed that there have simply been too many mandatory tournaments. Speaking on a similar line, British pro Jack Draper tweeted, “Injuries are going to happen… we are pushing our bodies to do things they aren’t supposed to in elite sport.” Later on, giving nod to Draper’s statement, Taylor Fritz chimed in, saying, “Facts, also seeing more injuries and burnout now than ever before because balls, courts, conditions have slowed down a lot, making the weekly grind even more physically demanding and tough on the body.” Now, seeing all these complaints from these superstars in the tennis world, Emma Raducanu’s ex-coach, Mark Petchey, delivered a pointed, if subtle, critique of the top players navigating the crowded Tour.

Last year, when a similar debate rose up, Petchey suggested a new ATP and WTA tennis calendar with a mid-season break. He had then asked for the season to run till the end of October/first week of November to give players proper rest and restart with a fresh mind in Australia. But this time, he took a subtle dig at players like Carlos Alcaraz, who have been complaining of the hectic schedule throughout the past two seasons. “Players/team members firebombing their own tour publicly is a bad, if not suicidal, commercial strategy. People that love tennis will watch tennis. People who don’t love tennis won’t watch a sport where multi-millionaires moan. It’s a turn-off. Most would happily embrace the grind that is currently being torched. You can’t grow the sport by dropping grenades in the press,” Petchey tweeted. 

Giving Jannik Sinner’s example, who has played around 50 matches this season, Mark Petchey added, “Sinner missed 3 months of the tour. 4 Masters events and is 2 in the race. You have a choice how much you want to play in reality. You just lose a share in the bonus pools. You aren’t forced to do anything when you look at it like that.”

While he didn’t name names directly, the implication was clear: stars like Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz, whose games often dominate headlines, have been criticized for their scheduling comments, leaving tournaments, fans, and fellow competitors grappling with uncertainty. When a fan asked Petchey if this tweet was a response to something that was said by someone specifically or just a general thought, he replied, “Bunch of players and some support/family have spoken out about the schedule. This was my take after it seemed like the bandwagon was freewheeling downwind with no brakes.”

But is this schedule chaos restricted to just the ATP Tour? Definitely not! Previously, Iga Swiatek also shared her thoughts on the same, saying, “I think we play too much, and the schedule is crazy.” She revealed how she always had to divide the year into each part of the season and focus on what’s coming up. Even Daria Kasatkina (who had to end her season early) stated, “The schedule is too much, mentally and emotionally I am at breaking point and sadly, I am not alone.” Recently, after battling through some illness and fitness issues, even Emma Raducanu was forced to pull the curtains early in her 2025 season.

As the season hurtles toward its final tournaments, fans will be watching not just who wins, but who shows up and how they choose to manage the delicate balance between ambition, exhaustion, and obligation. For Petchey, the hope is that players remember the wider picture, because in tennis, as in life, timing can be everything. But is he alone in criticizing these constant scheduling complaints from these superstars like Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz?

Carlos Alcaraz faces backlash from Serena Williams’ ex-coach, over schedule complaints

In the high-stakes world of professional tennis, every decision a player makes on and off the court is scrutinized. Recently, the world number one, Carlos Alcaraz, found himself at the center of controversy, not for his performance, but for a candid remark about the grueling nature of the ATP Tour schedule. Remember what happened last year?

Even in 2024, Alcaraz complained about hectic schedules, saying, “They’re probably going to kill us in some way.” But then, hearing all these complaints, ATP Chief Andrea Gaudenzi took a jibe at Alcaraz and others by saying, “It’s not like football or basketball, where they are employed by a club. Our players are self-employed and can decide their schedule.” He also highlighted how these players often choose to play many exhibitions outside the circuit, unlike any other sport.

Speaking on a similar line, after hearing all the complaints from players like Carlos Alcaraz, Rennae Stubbs, also shared her thoughts on the same. She said, “I do think it’s funny because as much as I love Carlos, it’s like I have recently seen that he is literally signed up for like every exhibition in December. Like, it is hard to take them seriously when they’re like, yes, the schedule needs to be smaller so that I can go play exhibitions in the Miami suburbs. Again, not so much critique, it’s just a little inconsistent. Yeah, that just makes me, that’s what makes me laugh.”

Responding to criticisms surrounding his participation in the exhibition events, Alcaraz said it’s a different format and a different situation playing exhibitions than official tournaments, 15-16 days in a row, with such high focus and physical demands. According to him, these exhibition events, which usually take place for one or two days, are much more fun, and on top of that, these events are not very demanding mentally, either, in comparison to the Tour-level matches.

But what does his fierce rival, Jannik Sinner, have to say on this? Well, the Italian took a different stance from Alcaraz; he said that he doesn’t want to criticize anything, as they can still choose which tournaments to play and which tournaments to skip. So, this debate surrounding the tennis schedules will go on, but what are your thoughts on Carlos Alcaraz’s views on this issue?