'Injuries are inevitable': Ex-Grand Slam champion joins calls to fix packed tennis calendar

Former Russian player Elena Vesnina has opened up about the challenging circumstances tennis players are facing nowadays. There has been calls about the need for changes in the hectic tennis schedule. Some of the biggest names in tennis, including the likes of Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz and Poland’s Iga Swiatek, have raised concerns about players' burnout.

In 2024, Alcaraz shared his views while talking to the media. “Sometimes I didn’t feel motivated at all,” he said. “It is a difficult moment. As I said many times, you know, the calendar is so tight, a lot of tournaments, no days off or not as many days off as I want. Probably during the next few years gonna be even more tournaments, more mandatory tournaments. So, I mean, probably they are going to kill us in some way.”

Later in September, Alcaraz once again reiterated his point of by highlighting the challenges faced by players. “My energy level right now, it is good. I mean, I have motivations to come here to play a good tennis,” he said back then. “I’m going to try to win the tournament, as I try to do to every tournament that I go Yeah, I mean, I’ve seen and I’ve hear a lot of players complain about the schedule, about the calendar as well. Didn’t see after my words, after this I didn’t hear, I didn’t seen people or players talk about that. I’ve seen it before, before my words. It depends as well about the players. I’m talking about that. Probably a few players, a lot of players are not going in my side; a lot of them going to be in my side complaining about the calendar, that it is so tight. It depends about the feelings of every player.”

Those comments led to Alcaraz receiving a lot of criticism from different quarters in the tennis community, mainly after he featured in an exhibition event in Saudi Arabia, titled the Six Slams. Now, former German player Vesnina has expressed her point of view on the demands of playing tennis at the highest level in this day and age.

Workload of a player must be taken into account: Elena Vesnina

Vesnina, who retired from professional tennis in 2024, recently spoke to Championat, where she talked in detail about the importance of recovery and maintaining a good schedule for players. Vesnina, who won three WTA titles in her singles career and went as high as 13th in the WTA singles rankings in 2017, was of the opinion that players' workload has to be managed if they want to compete at the highest level beyond a specific age limit.

"Tennis has matured—many players can now compete until the age of 35 while maintaining excellent physical condition,” said Vesnina. “The level of preparation and recovery has become extremely high. Above all, the workload of a player must be taken into account. The team must wisely manage the schedule and workload of the players. A tennis player needs time to recover and prepare for tournaments. Protecting one's health must be a priority. Injuries are inevitable—the demands are enormous, and the speed of the game has increased significantly. But many tennis players have become more mindful of their health.”

Vesnina did not win a single major title in her singles career, but had an impressive time while playing in the doubles and mixed doubles. In the doubles category, she lifted three Grand Slam titles—French Open (2013), US Open (2014) and Wimbledon (2017). She also finished as the runner-up at the Australian Open on two occasions, in 2014 and 2018. In the mixed doubles, Vesnina lifted one major title, which was the Australian Open in 2016. She finished as the runner-up on three occasions — Wimbledon (2011 and 2012), French Open (2021). Other than that, Vesnina also won an Olympic medal in the doubles category in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. In contrast, in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she managed to grab the silver medal in the mixed doubles category.