Players Divided Over Grueling Schedule

It seemed so simple at first, when Andy Roddick made his point better than anyone could. He complained on Monday that the tennis schedule is too demanding, and warned that star players could start dropping.

Then his knee popped, and he dropped.

But that has turned into a disagreement between two former No. 1 players, Roddick and Marat Safin, and other players have piped in over the hot topic on tour now. And it all shows how difficult this scheduling mess will be to clear up.

What Roddick said was absolutely right. But leave it to Safin to hammer more blunt truth into the discussion. Just two tournaments from the end of his career, Safin left the Shanghai Masters taking shots at Roddick and others over their warnings.

"In 2004, we had this discussion at the Olympic Games with Roddick, and they were blaming me, that I'm playing too much," Safin said. "And I was saying that the season is too long. And the guys jumped on me, like I was the one that was wrong.

"So look at all of them [now]. Everybody is falling apart. ... They just have to deal with that not when they are 21 and ambitious and want to make money. They have to think a bit with their brains to make their careers a little bit longer."

Earlier this week, I wrote that it's amazing the players don't have some independent, strong union standing up for them in the face of the greedy governing bodies running the game, milking the players.

Since then, it has become clear why there is no strong union:

The players aren't unified. They don't agree on what they want, and in many cases don't know.

Roddick responded to Safin Thursday afternoon on his Twitter account, saying that Safin's memories of 2004 are a little off:

"(It) wasn't exactly about the calendar ... was more about the fact that there was too much tennis in the summer of 2004."

"I agreed with this, but found it odd that he chose to play in Sopot (Poland) the week before on clay ... didn't think it gave him much of an argument as far as complaining about too much tennis."

It has become clear why there is no strong union: The players aren't unified. They don't agree on what they want, and in many cases don't know.
Seven players now have dropped out of Shanghai hurt, including U.S. Open champ Juan Martin del Potro, who left with a sore wrist. And that doesn't count Roger Federer (exhaustion) and Andy Murray (sore wrist), who didn't come.

Roddick said on Monday that the tour schedule, with 13 mandatory events spread through the calendar worldwide, is "ridiculous," and that it's unreasonable to have an 11-month season without time to rest and recover. He now awaits test results on his knee.

Rafael Nadal, who missed several months this year with sore knees and then sore abdominals, said similar things. But then he announced he would play an additional exhibition tournament at the start of the year in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. And while Federer is skipping the Asian leg of the tour, citing exhaustion, he also has chosen to play the additional exhibition tournament.

Safin has hit on it perfectly here -- though, to hear Roddick, Safin may have had the same problem, too. The players have their own greed to deal with.

Safin's point is that many players are greedy and don't really want a shortened schedule until they start getting hurt and it's too late.

Meanwhile, Andre Agassi, preparing for an exhibition against Pete Sampras, said that tennis needs an offseason, allowing the game to build momentum when the season starts up again.

Yet Tommy Robredo said there should be tournaments year-round, but that the players shouldn't be required to play so many of them. That way, they can play when they want.

As for the current No. 1 players, Federer is simply skipping mandatory tournaments now, apparently figuring any potential fines added or rankings points lost won't matter. And Serena Williams said she hoped to play Fed Cup, depending on "if I am walking or if I am going to be in a wheelchair."

She also inexplicably went to a small tournament in Spain in April.

"Everybody is getting injured left and right,'' Safin said. "And everybody is complaining the season is long. It takes six years to realize something is wrong?"

So what now? Adam Helfant, new CEO of the ATP Tour, plans to be at the Masters Final in London next month, and will talk with players about scheduling. The schedule, though, is set through 2011, and 2012 will be tough to shorten with the London Olympics added in.

And while top players grumble and also act hypocritically, those players just trying to scratch out a living aren't going to want a shortened season with less opportunity.

So the players aren't together, don't know what they want and don't have a voice strong enough to push it, anyway.

Apparently, Roddick is trying to fill that role.

"I really like Marat and his opinions, and am excited that at the very least this issue is getting discussed," he tweeted. "And yes, I certainly feel like I know more now than I did when I was 21. I don't really know anyone who wouldn't feel that way six years further into a career."

The women in tennis keep burning out, and the men are getting hurt. So many varied interests. It will be amazing if they all come together with one solution.

Email me at gregcouch09@aol.com