Tennis scandal: Alcaras demands to stop bullying players

Tennis circus played: players pay health for other people's ratings.

What happened at the U.S. Open in early September is nothing but bullying athletes. Carlos Alcaras, the world's third racket and seven-time Grand Slam champion, was forced to close his quarter-final match against Ben Shelton at 3:33 a.m. This is the latest finish in the history of the final major of the season. The Spaniard, who defended the title in New York, left the court in a state that is difficult to call athletic. And then he rightly demanded that the organizers stop this practice, setting a deadline for the completion of matches at 23:00.

The Alcaras case was no exception, but the culmination of a systemic failure. In the first week of the tournament alone, three meetings ended after two o'clock in the morning, two more dragged on well past midnight. And Venus Williams, 45, stepped onto the court at 00:13, which in itself seems absurd. Tennis has turned into a nighttime TV show where live people become expendables.

Speaking in London on the eve of the Laver Cup, Alcaras stated the obvious: such schedules hurt everyone. According to him, units remain in the stands by three o'clock in the morning, while in a normal start time, the arena would be filled to capacity. The player suggested adjusting the schedule so that the work is completed no later than eleven in the evening or at any other reasonable time.

The U.S. Tennis Association, which is responsible for hosting the Open, did not immediately comment on the situation, limiting itself to a streamlined promise to consider schedule options in the future. A familiar tactic: to wait until the scandal subsides on its own.

The solution has long existed and is successfully used by competitors. Wimbledon severely interrupts the game at 23:00 in accordance with the local curfew. Roland Garros limited the night sessions to one match. Only in New York do they pretend that nothing is happening.

The problem of night matches is just the tip of the iceberg. Leading tennis players are increasingly talking about an overloaded calendar and a lack of normal recovery. Andre Agassi, eight-time major champion and captain of the Laver Cup world team, stressed the need for guaranteed off-season rest for players. In his opinion, a stable period of downtime would benefit both the athletes themselves and the fans, who would finally get the opportunity to miss tennis, rather than consume it in endless production mode.

Regarding the Laver Cup itself, which is often criticized for its status, Agassi said that the tournament, bearing the name of Rod Laver, should not be compromised. However, he made a mistake: he wants the participants to go to the court in the best physical shape, and not crawl to him from the last strength.

See the photo gallery on the topic

And that reservation is the point. The organizers of the majors turned the sport into a survival marathon, where the schedule is written according to the needs of broadcasters, not the capabilities of the human body. Alcaras, Shelton, Williams and dozens of other players were not hired for the third shift. It's time to stop this practice before someone pays for it with a serious injury. Or the health of tennis players is cheaper than an advertising slot in the night air.