The former Italian tennis star: “Here there are no contracts like other sports and the solution is not to limit participation. Rather…”
the image of an athlete of Jannik Sinner’s level, who, suffering from cramps, slowly approaches the bench, supporting himself thanks to the racket used as a stick, has gone around the world. It is the symbol of the wear and tear of current tennis, a somewhat dramatic photo that has hurt our sport, like the repeated crises of former number 1 Novak Djokovic. We play a lot, we play too much. The evolution of tennis now regulated by the “must go on show” has the effect of congesting calendars and consequently causing damage to the players’ health. What to do, then? The best solution would be to reduce participation, skipping perhaps even important tournaments, all to safeguard the body. A decision that is possible for freelancers, but which comes at a heavy cost both in terms of world ranking points and financial gain.