Paul Annacone, the ex-coach of former world number one Roger Federer, has criticized the tennis calendar and described it as “ridiculous”. There has been a lot of noise about the tennis calendar in recent years, and some well-known players have spoken out about it.
The most prominent of them were the women’s world number one, Iga Swiatek, and the men’s world number three, Carlos Alcaraz from Spain. Annacone became another voice expressing concern about the amount of tennis being played these days. The 61-year-old was recently quoted in a report discussing the early exit of American duo Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe.
Fritz, who recently became the first American player in 18 years to reach the final of the US Open, lost in the first round of the Japan Open to France’s Arthur Fils in straight sets 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. On the other hand, Tiafoe lost in the first round of the ATP tournament in Tokyo to his American compatriot Brandon Nakashima, who won in straight sets 7:5, 6:3. Unsurprisingly, both players were heavily involved in the recently concluded Laver Cup, where they represented Team World.
Annacone said it was “ridiculous” that the players would come all the way a day after the Laver Cup and then not rest before the start in Tokyo.
“There’s no excuse for any of these guys [Fritz und Tiafoe]”That’s the way it is,” the 61-year-old said, according to The Tennis Gazette. “But the schedule isn’t working, it doesn’t take a genius to figure it out, it’s just getting more and more overloaded. It’s ridiculous that someone plays a tournament of the magnitude of the Laver Cup, which is so great and phenomenal and so emotion-filled, and then flies to Tokyo, comes to Asia on Tuesday morning after flying all night, and then the next day plays. This is a circus. The tennis calendar has always been a circus and we’re not doing ourselves any favors, are we?”
