'Players are not participating enough' - Novak Djokovic would like tennis stars to get more involved in planning the tour calendar

The topic of player fatigue and scheduling on the ATP and WTA Tour has been prevalent over the last few years among players. Although several tennis stars have spoken out about the issue, former World No.1 Novak Djokovic would like his colleagues to get more involved in generating the tennis schedule each season.

World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz is not playing at the ongoing Shanghai Masters event, after sustaining an injury at the Japan Open, which ended on Tuesday. Italian tennis star Jannik Sinner won the China Open on the same day his next tournament, the Shanghai Masters, began, giving him little time to recuperate.

On the WTA Tour, Polish star Iga Swiatek hinted at skipping a few tournaments in order to protect her mental health. As a result, Djokovic voiced his opinion on the matter during his pre-tournament conference in Shanghai.

"I was against the extension of the duration of the Masters 1000 events," said Djokovic. "Even when I was in the (ATP Players) Council, I think I was at the time president of the council, I was not supportive of that. I think for the players it’s not good.”

Players need to be united to counter the gruesome schedule, says Djokovic

Several players have complained of burnout as the season progresses. Nonetheless, a handful still choose to compete in exhibition events. Djokovic stated he had no problems with players choosing what to do with their spare time, but they would need to come together if they hoped to make permanent changes to the calendar.

"As a player and someone who has been playing on the highest level for more than 20 years, I can say that the players are not united enough,” said the Serbian. “Players are not participating enough when they should be. So they make comments and complain, and then they go away. And then if something is wrong, after a certain amount of time, they come back again.
"But you have to invest the time, you have to invest energy yourself, not your agent, not your team, not your parents, not anybody, yourself, to dedicate yourself to understanding how the system works, to understand what are the things that can be done to be reversed, to be improved in terms of the players’ interest.
"For that to happen, you need the top players to sit down, roll up their sleeves, and really care a bit more about participating in understanding all of the hot topic."

The 24-time Grand Slam champion kicks off his campaign in Shanghai with a second round clash against 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic on Friday.