The Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) has issued a strongly worded statement claiming the crammed tennis schedule is to blame for the rising rate of withdrawals by key stars at tournaments between the four majors.
Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are the latest top-ranked stars to withdraw from the Canadian Open, citing injury rehabilitation as reason for their absence.
Jannik Sinner has been battling a knee injury Getty Images
Novak Djokovic and Felix Auger-Aliassime also confirmed they would not be competing in Montreal, but are expected to play at the US Open later this month.
In the women’s draw, Emma Raducanu, Karolina Muchova and Jasmine Paolini all withdrew with lingering injury concerns. Victoria Mboko, who is the reigning champion of the Canadian Open, also ruled herself out of the draw.
The PTPA was “not surprised” by the number of players who have pulled out of tournaments, but is “saddened” by how common withdrawals have become.
In a statement, the PTPA revealed it had launched a collaborative research project to analyse injury data within the sport of tennis.
In that research, medical director Dr. Robby Sikka and the PTPA dissected the negative impacts that the growing competition schedule is having on players.
“(The project) includes the collection and analysis of injury data from more than 30,000 professional matches spanning the past eight years across all levels of sport,” the PTPA said.
“The evidence is clear: the season is too long, recovery time is shrinking, and injuries are occurring earlier and becoming more severe.”
An increase of 42 per cent in upper body injuries was identified in the first quarter of injury data for 2026 compared to 2025. Arm injuries were also up 112 per cent year-on-year, as per the PTPA’s research data.
Players like Nick Kyrgios, Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek, who have suffered recent arm concerns, have regularly called for changes to the calendar, but none of their pleas have led to significant change.
The PTPA cited this, noting that the ATP has instead opted to “expand more mandatory tournaments to a 12-day format” instead of allowing a recovery period.
“Short-term commercial interests cannot come at the expense of player health,” the PTPA statement continued.
“Protecting players isn’t just about today’s competitors; it’s about protecting the future of tennis.”
As of last year, seven of the nine ATP Masters 1000 events were expanded to the 12-day format. The PTPA, co-founded by Djokovic, wants that to change.
The PTPA also called for tennis administrators to “urgently adopt a player-health and data-driven approach” when structuring the calendar in the future, including using the voices of players to shape it for the better.
Players will continue to prepare for the US Open main draw to start on August 30.