By now, the strain of the tennis calendar is hard to ignore. Both the ATP and WTA seasons run almost nonstop from January through November, leaving players with little room to recover before the next event. Injuries, exhaustion and physical burnout have become recurring concerns. With criticism of the schedule continuing to grow, two prominent WTA players have now decided enough is enough, stepping away from competition for several months to recover.

Laura Siegemund is one of the players stepping away. She will skip the North American swing, including the US Open, with a possible return in September, although no firm date has been set. Lulu Sun is taking an even longer pause. The 25-year-old has announced an indefinite break from competition and has not provided a timetable for her return, saying she wants time to enjoy life away from tennis.

“Hi everybody! After Wimbledon I’ve decided to take a break from competition, and I will miss the US swing and not play for a while,” Laura wrote in an Instagram post. “I will take some time off, recover the mind and the body, and then see where it takes me next.”

Siegemund is skipping the entire North American hard-court swing, including Washington, Toronto, Cleveland and the US Open. At 38, ranked No. 88 and facing a likely drop outside the top 100, she is choosing recovery over chasing ranking points simply to stay on the treadmill. There is no comeback date, no carefully packaged return plan, and no attempt to pretend everything is fine. Sun’s situation is different, but she has reached a similar point.

Sun’s most recent competitive appearance came at Wimbledon in 2026, where she lost in the second round of qualifying. That turned out to be her final match before announcing a break from professional tennis to focus on her wellbeing. The result was a stark contrast to her breakthrough at the same tournament two years earlier, when she came through qualifying and reached the quarterfinals after wins over Alex Eala and Emma Raducanu. Sun struggled to recapture that form in 2026, going 8-16 and failing to win a WTA main-draw match before stepping away from competition.

“In professional tennis, as in life, there is constant pressure to perfect oneself,” Lulu wrote on Instagram. “The physical and mental demands of a competition schedule are relentless and can impact your life in more ways than one. With that in mind, I have decided to take some time away from competition to give myself a little space for my wellbeing and to enjoy life beyond the tennis court.

“It will give me the opportunity to step away from the demands of competition, reset and prepare for what’s ahead. I find it hard to express how deeply appreciative I am to all my team members, friends, family and fans for their continuous belief in me.”

In both cases, Wimbledon ended up being the last stop before the break. Notably, both Siegemund and Sun last competed at Wimbledon. The German was eliminated in the first round after a 6-2, 6-4 loss to Elise Mertens. Sun, meanwhile, had to come through qualifying after missing out on a wildcard. She won her opening qualifier before falling to Oceane Dodin in a pair of tiebreaks, 7-6, 7-6.

That also came after both players had already spent much of the season competing regularly. Both players have remained fairly active on Tour this season without taking any significant breaks before this month.

Siegemund has competed in 13 tournaments, while Sun has played 17, with neither dealing with a serious injury that forced an extended absence. For Sun, however, that workload has come alongside a steep fall from her 2024 breakthrough. After reaching the Wimbledon quarterfinals that year, she slipped outside the top 100 by 2026, winning just eight of 24 matches and failing to record a WTA main-draw victory before losing in the second round of Wimbledon qualifying

Even research has also shown how physically demanding long stretches of tournament play can become. One study tracking tennis players over a six-week international tour found declines in 5-meter and 10-meter sprint speed, agility, and aspects of body composition after sustained competition. The researchers noted that heavy training and match loads, combined with limited recovery time, can affect performance and increase physical strain.

That context helps explain why even healthy players may eventually need time away. Siegemund and Sun have both maintained their fitness levels, but competing in so many tournaments can wear down any player over time. It is possible that the demands of the Tour simply caught up with them, leading both to step away from competition and take a much-needed break.

They aren’t the only WTA players who are finding it hard to keep up with the Tour.

In fact, even top players like Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek have also been critical of the incredibly tiring tennis schedule.

Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek have also weighed in on the demanding tennis schedule

Sabalenka had described the schedule as “insane” earlier this year in January. She had also warned that it would lead to a high number of injuries.

“The season is definitely insane, and that’s not good for all of us, as you see so many players getting injured and also the balls are quite heavy. It’s a lot of struggle for all of us,” she said during a press conference at the Brisbane International. “The rules are quite tricky with mandatory events, but I’m still skipping a couple events to protect my body, because I struggled a lot last season.”

On the other hand, Swiatek had branded the schedule as “too intense” last season. She believes that there is no reason why players need to play over 20 tournaments a year. She had made the scathing comments after skipping Poland’s qualifier at the Billie Jean King Cup.

“The scheduling is super intense. It’s too intense. There’s no point for us to play over 20 tournaments in a year,” she said during a pre-tournament press conference at Wimbledon. “Sometimes we need to sacrifice playing for your country because we need to keep up with playing these WTA 500s, for example, because we’re going to get a zero in the ranking.”

But it appears that the players’ repeated pleas to improve the scheduling of the Tour are falling on deaf ears. This is because both the ATP and WTA have no plans to decrease the number of tournaments as of now.

In fact, the ATP will be adding a tenth Masters event to the Tour in 2028, which will be held in Saudi Arabia. With the LA Olympics also set to be held during the same year, it won’t be wrong to say that the 2028 season can be the most exhausting one in recent years.