Serena Williams’ Ex-Coach Slams US Open Chaos as Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek Face Turmoil

Several top tennis players have voiced concerns about the demanding schedule during the North American hard-court swing, citing the intense physical toll and limited recovery time. The North American swing, leading up to the US Open, is seen as particularly grueling due to the number of tournaments crammed into a short period, requiring players to travel frequently and play on different surfaces with minimal rest. We saw plenty of players taking mid-match retirement and withdrawing from their matches at the Cincinnati Open this year. Highlighting all these issues, tennis star Carlos Alcaraz recently opened up on this topic in an interview with the Financial Times.

After Wimbledon, Carlos Alcaraz withdrew his name from the Canadian Open. He said, “After many consecutive weeks of competition without rest, I will not be able to play in Toronto this year. I have small muscle issues, and I need to recover physically and mentally for what comes next.” Following that short break, Alcaraz came back to action at the Cincinnati Open, but amid all this, he urged ATP to make a big change in tennis. In his interview with Financial Times, the Spaniard said, “We’re trying to change the schedule a bit, seeing if they can remove more tournaments so we can have more rest time, more vacation time.”

However, not only Alcaraz even other players like Iga Swiatek have been seen time and again raising their voices on the same issue. Swiatek claims the scheduling is “super intense,” and according to her, there is no point for the players to play over 20 tournaments in a year. Amid all these concerns surrounding the tennis schedules, both Alcaraz and Swiatek have reached the final of the Cincinnati Open. But the biggest concern for them is that there is a few hours gap between their final match and their first match at the star-studded US Open mixed doubles event. Seeing this schedule, Serena Williams’ ex-coach, Rennae Stubbs, dropped a tweet saying, “A Monday final is just ABSOLUTELY BONKERS! @atptour @WTA I’m sure the @usopen isnt happy about it either. Detracting from fan week & possibly the mixed doubles tournament they’ve put a lot of money into & that fans have paid to see with those names. Tennis really needs a commish!”

Carlos Alcaraz will be taking on Jannik Sinner in the Cincinnati Open final, while Iga Swiatek will face Jasmine Paolini in the women’s final. In the star-studded mixed doubles event at the US Open, Alcaraz has teamed up with Emma Raducanu, and they will play against Jessica Pegula and Jack Draper in their first match. Iga Swiatek will be seen in action alongside Casper Ruud, and they will be facing the all-American duo of Madison Keys and Frances Tiafoe.