Carlos Alcaraz revealed he could take an extended break from tennis because of the tour’s gruelling schedule.
The world No.3 has returned at the US Open after spending four months out with a wrist injury.
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But he admitted extended breaks from playing could be a regular occurrence in the future, due to the difficulty in keeping up with the busy calendar.
Players have complained of the packed schedule, made worse by some Masters events being extended from one week to two.
You can watch Alcaraz’s honest admission in the player above.
“I took more than I wanted [time out] but seeing how tight the calendar is, obviously I don’t want to have this break because of an injury.
“But in the future I am going to take some breaks, some long breaks.
“Maybe not four months but one month, two months, missing some tournaments because it is impossible to play them all.
“They’re adding more important tournaments, in a way they are making us play.
“There are some Masters 1000, grand slams and we have been out playing 40 weeks if we are going to play every tournament that the ATP requires us to play.
“It is impossible. We have seen a lot of players getting injured, a lot of players getting tired, and if they don’t do anything about it we are going to see it even more in the future.”
Alcaraz believes it is possible for him to win the US Open despite his injury layoff, and so far the defending champion has beaten Roman Dafiullin and Jaime Faria to reach the third round.
“So, it is possible [to win],” Alcaraz said.
“I think that many people have shown it. [Roger] Federer, [Rafa] Nadal, many people have shown that you can win a grand slam after having been injured for a long time or having had a very hard injury.
“So we’re going to try to tie ourselves to that belief that we can do it too.
“The first month was kind of difficult for me, because I couldn’t do anything with my right arm.
“It was tough. But at the same time, I enjoyed my time. I enjoyed my time with family, with friends, staying at home.
“But once I started to practice a little bit, that I didn’t know when I’m gonna start, [those] thoughts are really difficult to deal with, because I don’t know if I’m gonna be ready for Cincinnati, for US Open, or I’m gonna miss the whole American swing.
“So those thoughts were really difficult to deal with. But finally, here we are.”
Originally published as Carlos Alcaraz stuns by revealing he could take extended breaks from tennis due to new development