Injury List Grows, Players Want Change

On Monday, Andy Roddick spoke out against the ATP for the lack of a normal tennis offseason. On Tuesday, he retired from the Shanghai Masters with knee pains.

Fast-forward to Thursday, the injury count at Shanghai has grown to seven after just four days of play. The latest additions are Gael Monfils of France and Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, who retired from their matches earlier today.

The Shanghai injury list includes reigning U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, Tommy Haas, Jose Acasuso and Mischa Zverev. Not included are Roger Federer (fatigue) and Andy Murray (wrist), who opted out of the tournament before it began to recuperate.

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The biggest stars in tennis have publicly spoken out on the tough schedule, and the grueling effects of the irregular season are evidenced by the major injuries that have plagued tennis stars all year.

Rafael Nadal missed several months due to knee troubles and was also bothered by an abdominal injury during the U.S. Open.

On Monday, Nadal spoke out against the ATP schedule citing the toll it has taken on his body. "It's impossible to play first of January to finish fifth of December," he said. "It's impossible to be here playing like what I did the last five years, playing a lot of matches and being all the time 100 percent without problems."

Roger Federer is sitting out, citing fatigue. Less than one week after his taxing loss to del Potro in the U.S. Open finals, he was back on the court in Switzerland to compete in a Davis Cup match. "It would be nice to have a week of holiday, but it's not possible right now," Federer said before he was set to represent the Swiss against Italy.
Serena Williams said last week that she would like to play in the Fed Cup finals next month against Italy, but she is not sure if she will be healthy enough. "I definitely want to play again. I am just trying to get there," Williams said. "It's just really hard to see how my body is going to be after Doha, (Qatar) -- if I am going to be walking or if I am going to be in a wheelchair."

After taking the No. 1 ranking from Dinara Safina, missing a match would be costly for Serena who holds on to a miniscule lead in the WTA rankings.

With many of the top players bothered by injuries and speaking out against the current system, it seems to be time for the ITF to step up and make a change, or at the least, address the issue and allow the players some time to recover between events.

Follow Chris Sesno on Twitter: @csesno