Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev They set an alarm on the men’s circuit: most players, the Serbian said, do not want to continue with this travel format in 2021.
“What we see is not normal, we are not used to it. Top players who are best trained, it was tried in the past and now you have Berrettini, Rafa with back injury, Sascha too, Dimitrov. Have something to do with it.” these conditions we have. Come to a Grand Slam and a tournament prior to a Grand Slam, with fourteen days of quarantine, “said the world’s No. 1 president of the PTPA (Association of Professional Tennis Players).
“We hope it will be temporary, but when we speak to a lot of players, most players don’t want to continue the season like this when we have to go into quarantine in most tournaments. It’s something that needs to be discussed now. talks with the ATP leadership as they told me I’m waiting for some answers, I want to understand how the circuit will continue after the Australian Open, ”added the Serb.
“We have to talk, we have to find a way, like the NBA bubble. I heard some players talking about it and I don’t mind discussing that idea. Pick a spot and play all the tournaments on that surface in that spot. Three , play for four weeks … Two or three weeks off Then we’ll come back Something like that At the highest level We need to discuss options, I don’t know if it will work We’ll be in Australia, locked up for 5 days, in a few lucky days We are going to see people in the stadium again, we have to be realistic that what we are experiencing here in Australia is much better than what Europe is in, in terms of restrictions, regulations, quarantines, etc. Most of the season continues in Europe. The next few months will be … Miami and the Middle East, but once we start in Europe, with this one-player rule ATP is +2 people Only. You can’t bring your family, “said Djokovic.
For his part, Zverev reinforced Djokovic’s ideas, saying they had already discussed it and also with Vasek Pospisil: “ There will continue to be injuries, there are restrictions in some countries, depending on the passport you have, they should not be enters a country. I know South American players should fight with that. We can’t have a travel circuit right now. The ATP has to do and find a stadium like this and play several tournaments in a few weeks. Ultimately, we will not have spectators in Europe. What is the difference where we play the tournament? We can change the surfaces, the names or whatever and play in a stadium. “