Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka are missing three Grand Slam champions from the ATP final in London for injury reasons. It is significant that the hamster wheel turns faster and faster.
Roger Federer was not a complete couch potato on the day off “I don’t have one or two, I have four children. That’s why I can’t be on the sofa all the time,”said the Swiss superstar, who had already qualified for the semi-finals on Saturday at the ATP final in London.
Federer gave up any practice sessions on the court on his play-free Wednesday “I might have gone to play squash in the past. I don’t do anything like that anymore,”Federer reported on the learning processes in training planning.
The Grand Slam record champion meanwhile knows that “my game isn’t just gone when I take a day off”. 36-year-old Federer is now 36 years old and can manage his energy to the full.
This season in particular, the “Maestro” experienced what happens when his body strikes, using the example of many colleagues. Meaning that Federer’s permanent rival Rafael Nadal had to retire from the Thames after his first group match. Again the knee of the Spanish industry leader!
In the last tournament of the year alone, titleholders Andy Murray (hip), Novak Djokovic (elbow) and Stan Wawrinka (knee) missed three Grand Slam champions for injury reasons.
Curiously, countless advertising posters of Djokovic are paving the North Greenwich suburban railway station in front of the mighty o2-arena not far from the Thames. The former number one from Serbia and the British local hero Murray could not qualify for the exchange of the best eight pros of the year, as they had finished their season early on – and therefore even dropped out of the top ten in the world rankings.
Djokovic had already decided at the end of July not to play a tournament in 2017. It was the perfect match for a season that has, above all, caused more prominent victims than almost any other.
At the US Open in August, five of the eleven best pros could not compete. The Canadian Milos Raonic and the Japanese Kei Nishikori (both wrists), both major finalists, also had to pass in the long run.
Does Federer have a prescription against the trend?”Makes us ten years younger…”, he joked. But instead, the frequency of appointments around the globe and time zones is constantly increasing. The dollar machine is up and running, stagnation is also a setback in the tennis business. That’s why new tournaments are constantly being stomped out of the ground.
This year, the Laver Cup took place for the first time in Prague – a duel between Europe and the USA. It was actually a show tournament, but heavyweights such as Federer, Nadal and Alexander Zverev played.
Only a week ago, the premiere of the so-called NextGen ATP final in Milan – a kind of mini masters for the stars of the future – took place.
This season, 75 TV stations broadcast the tournaments in 195 countries on all six continents. The reach: Over 828 million viewers, according to the ATP.
Zverev, who is making his debut at the ATP final, is already aware that preparing for 2018 will be a challenge:”The recovery time is extremely short,” said the 20-year-old,”I’ll be spending two weeks in London, and then everything will start all over again.
It’s quite possible that quadruple dad Federer will be in his 21st year of life. professional season (!) becomes a couch potato even more often.