{"id":10724,"date":"2025-07-21T11:18:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T11:18:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/10724\/"},"modified":"2025-07-21T11:18:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T11:18:13","slug":"carlos-alcaraz-has-been-proven-correct-as-jack-draper-withdraws-from-two-tournaments-ahead-of-the-us-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/10724\/","title":{"rendered":"Carlos Alcaraz has been proven correct as Jack Draper withdraws from two tournaments ahead of the US Open"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jack Draper\u2019s 2025 hard-court swing has misfired before takeoff.<\/p>\n

The British number one was due to play in the Toronto Open and Cincinnati Open across July and August; two extremely important Masters 1000 tournaments that serve as excellent preparation for the US Open<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Draper confirmed he has suffered an injury to his left arm. On X<\/a> [Twitter] he said: \u201cAfter Wimbledon I picked up an injury in my left arm, nothing serious, but I have to make sure it recovers fully for the rest of the season. <\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, I won\u2019t be able to compete in Toronto and Cincinnati\u2026. See you in NYC!<\/p>\n

\"Britain'sPhoto by KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

This announcement was posted on the same day Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic<\/a> and Jannik Sinner<\/a> confirmed that they will also miss the Toronto Open.<\/p>\n

Various players, including Alexander Zverev and Alex de Minaur, have raised concerns regarding the ATP Tour schedule, specifically regarding burnout for players and a potential greater chance of injury.<\/p>\n

Carlos Alcaraz<\/a>, who commented on the discussion in 2024, has been proven correct after Draper\u2019s withdrawals on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Carlos Alcaraz said players would have to skip tournaments to take care of their bodies<\/p>\n

Speaking to Punto de Break<\/a> in September 2024, Alcaraz noted that he had played many matches in 2024 and experienced being injured on tour for the first time.<\/p>\n

During the interview, the Spaniard criticised the ATP Tour schedule. He said: \u201cIt has been a tough season, I have played fewer tournaments than other players, but many matches. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have experienced new things like being injured and coming back to the circuit afterwards.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe season\u2019s become long physically and mentally, and these tournaments help me feel like myself on the court again. There are few commitments left until the end of the year, but I am very eager to gradually feel better.<\/p>\n

\"CarlosPhoto By Oscar J. Barroso\/Europa Press via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cMany believe that this is a good calendar, but others think there are too many mandatory tournaments and there will probably be years with even more.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a way, they are killing us.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, there are many players injured due to the calendar and other factors, but at some point, there will be players who will have to skip tournaments because they have to take care of their bodies, families, and other aspects of life besides tennis.\u201d<\/p>\n

When considering the withdrawals of Draper, Djokovic and Sinner, Alcaraz<\/a> has been proven entirely correct. Tennis fans want to see the best players in the world competing at the biggest tournaments, and if players are being forced to prioritise one tournament over another, a scheduling rethink may be necessary.<\/p>\n

Do players need to reconsider their schedules first?<\/p>\n

Criticising the ATP Tour schedule cannot be done without examining the choices made by players of their own volition.<\/p>\n

Andrea Gaudenzi, Executive Chairman of the ATP Tour, spoke to French outlet L\u2019Equipe in December 2024, to discuss the concerns players had raised about scheduling.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cIt\u2019s not like football or basketball where they are employed by a club. Our players are self-employed and can decide their schedule.<\/p>\n

\"AndreaPhoto by Nicol\u00f2 Campo\/LightRocket via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, there is the ranking that makes them have to play, but it depends mainly on the big tournaments, the Grand Slams, the Masters 1000 and the ATP Finals. We decided to strengthen the Masters 1000, but in this new format, if you go to the final, you only play one more game compared to the old one.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition, players choose to play many exhibitions outside the circuit. We don\u2019t see that in other sports. The question is whether you want to invest in the circuit or outside the circuit.<\/p>\n

\u201cReduce the season? Yes, but it will then be necessary to reduce the number of ATP 250 tournaments. Afterwards, players can also decide to do fewer exhibitions and spend more time at home to rest.\u201d<\/p>\n

These points are valid. Alcaraz competed in various exhibition tournaments in 2024, including the Six Kings Slam, the Netflix Slam with Rafael Nadal and the Laver Cup. Alcaraz was recently warned not to be \u2018stupid\u2019<\/a>: entering more exhibitions before having a chance to complete the career Grand Slam at the 2026 Australian Open.<\/p>\n

Dan Evans\u2019 previous comments regarding scheduling<\/p>\n

Former British number one, Dan Evans, has also previously hit out at those complaining about the scheduling.<\/p>\n

During an interview with BBC Sport at the 2025 Queen\u2019s Club Championships, Evans said: \u201cI think first and foremost we\u2019re in a fortunate position.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I hear about the schedule [complaints], these guys don\u2019t have to play every week. You are allowed to not play. The reason they play is so they pick up their bonus pool.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to be careful moaning about it, we have a lot of work, which is good. There\u2019s lots of people in the world struggling for work, so we have to be careful harping on about the tough schedule.<\/p>\n

\"DanPhoto by Charlie Crowhurst\/Getty Images for LTA<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are allowed to take weeks off, we are independent contractors, so that\u2019s where I stand on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

After beating Frances Tiafoe in London, Evans again discussed the situation. He said: \u201cEverybody is entitled to their opinion on the schedule, but the tour has been like that for however many years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe top, top guys schedule properly, and that\u2019s, you know, that\u2019s I guess what\u2019s part of the issue, I imagine, is how people schedule how many weeks they want to play, how many weeks they don\u2019t want to play.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe personally, I see the weeks before Grand Slams are way stronger than they were maybe ten years ago. There is more top players playing. I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s to try and pick up cheap points, but, you know, there are these massive teams now.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are allowed to have some input into it. There are loads of weeks in the year you can take off or train or whatnot. That\u2019s up to them.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnybody outside the top 15 don\u2019t have those views, because the bottom line is anybody outside the top 15 need to play every week. People need working opportunities. If you are at 60 in the world with more than two people on your staff each week, you need to make money.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo you can\u2019t just not have tournaments every week. They need tournaments. That\u2019s it. Can\u2019t just listen to the top guys on scheduling. Just because they are better than us at tennis doesn\u2019t mean their voice is louder to talk.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what I\u2019ll say. I\u2019m more than happy to have the conversation with whoever wants it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jack Draper\u2019s 2025 hard-court swing has misfired before takeoff. The British number one was due to play in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10725,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[1518,64,63,962,12740,5874,85,747,12741],"class_list":["post-10724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-atp-tennis-players","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-carlos-alcaraz","tag-dan-evans","tag-jack-draper","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-us-open-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}