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Thumbs down to men’s tennis tour
Serena Williams believes that when it comes to the grind of touring and travelling, the likes of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have a lot to learn.
Serena Williams believes that when it comes to the grind of touring and travelling, the likes of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have a lot to learn.
After the conclusion of the WTA Championships here on Sunday, the women's tour shuts down for two months.
By contrast, the ATP men's tour finishes in London on November 22 with Nadal then slated for a Davis Cup final date from December 2-4.
"I couldn't imagine being on the men's tour, playing that long. That would be very difficult for me," said Williams.
Earlier in October, the men's tournament in Shanghai was hit by nine injury-forced retirements, adding more fuel to the fire over the lengthy playing schedule.
Nadal's ongoing problems with his brittle knees saw him forced out of defending his Wimbledon title this year and was also a contributing factor in his shock French Open exit.
French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova believes that the women's tour has been boosted by agreements on the maximum numbers of top tier events the leading women are obliged to play.
"I think the WTA Tour has heard so many players complaining about how bad the schedule was before," said the Russian.
"We are women and we're not so strong to play all the year, and we have so many injuries. The calendar suffers, the tournaments suffer, they were smart enough to change."
