Australian Open chief Craig Tiley concedes the worldwide tennis season is simply too lengthy however has dismissed solutions the primary grand slam of the 12 months must be rescheduled.
There are constantly calls to maneuver the Melbourne Park match to a distinct time of 12 months to keep away from Australia’s fierce warmth, condense the annual schedule and provides gamers extra time to arrange following the briefest of off-seasons.
Momentum for change is rising after a number of high-profile withdrawals, together with males’s No.1 Carlos Alcaraz, whereas girls’s prime seed Iga Swiatek is amongst these to drag out of lead-in occasions resulting from niggling accidents.
Australian gun Alex de Minaur instructed reporters it was “no secret” the tennis calendar was a protracted one, however relished the January begin.
Tiley slammed a NewsCorp report calling for the match’s rescheduling however conceded tennis organisers wanted to evaluate the season’s size.
“I did read that, I thought it was absolutely ridiculous – a bizarre claim,” Tiley mentioned on Monday.
“You talk to every player, this is the season. It starts in January. It starts here in Australia.
“Alex has a superb level in regards to the size of the season. The sport does have to get collectively and have a look at the size of it.
“It finishes with Davis Cup late on the men’s side and not as late on the women’s side but I do think it’s a long season. We’ve been talking about that for a long time.
“But Australia is the summer time, Australia is January and this occasion is, from the gamers’ perspective, certainly one of their favorite locations to play.
“They’re coming here earlier, we’re now seeing players here for six weeks, for seven weeks and the preparation for the Australian summer is very normalised – they know what they need to do.”
If Melbourne Park organisers are unwilling to budge, it might put strain on tennis authorities to push for the latter levels of the season to be wrapped up extra shortly.
“It’s no secret the year’s a very long year,” de Minaur mentioned.
“You play tournaments throughout the whole year, you finish quite late. That depends on your schedule and everything.
“If there was a bit extra time for an low season, I’m positive plenty of gamers would really like that. But on the similar time we’re form of used to it.
“I’ve done it for a couple years where you finish quite late and then you get right into the midst of things.
“There’s occasions alongside the 12 months the place you possibly can select to take just a little little bit of day off and that is most likely the neatest factor to do. So I’ll be that.”
Many competitors face a gruelling change in conditions, arriving from winter in Europe and the United States, but de Minaur said it was up to players to organise their pre-season and acclimatise to the heat.
De Minaur, based in Spain, is among those who arrive in Australia early while others head to the Middle East.
“I like beginning my 12 months right here. There’s nothing higher than the Aussie summer time,” he mentioned.
“It’s good and sizzling, us Aussies not less than we thrive within the warmth and we’re able to kick off our 12 months with taking part in at dwelling.
“So for us it’s amazing. We love it.”
Meanwhile, Tiley confirmed that for the primary time since 2020 gamers would now not be required to report constructive COVID-19 exams however can be inspired to remain away if sick.
