Carlos Alcaraz has acknowledged that he felt burnt out from the intense pressure of his commitments prior to a significant injury layoff that began in April.
The Spanish star, who secured the Australian Open title earlier this year, was sidelined from professional tennis for over four months due to an injury in his right wrist.
Alcaraz made his return at the US Open, advancing to the quarter-finals before falling in a five-set thriller against American Ben Shelton, a match that concluded at 3:33 a.m. local time.
Due to the demanding nature of the professional calendar, the former world No 1 has indicated that he intends to schedule longer breaks from the sport and skip select tournaments moving forward.
“With the breaks I cannot plan them in advance,” Alcaraz told Sky’s Jacquie Beltrao at London’s O2. “It depends how I feel mentally and physically.
“The tennis calendar has been super tight. There are more important tournaments and even more Masters 1000 events over two weeks, so it’s pretty long. You have to be focused from the first day until the last, plus all the Grand Slams and everything else so it depends on how many matches I’ve been playing.
“If I’m injured or mentally a bit down I’m going to need those breaks. I realise it will be better to take it before getting injured.”
Alcaraz also <a You expose yourself in every tournament, but not only when you go on the court, it's every time you go out for dinner, the people who stop you, the people rolling with the cameras. Sometimes that is hard to deal with when you expose yourself at that level," the seven-time Grand Slam <a Mentally, it's hard to deal with. That's why sometimes I have to stay at home alone or with my close people around.
“Home is my peace. When I can chill and be myself. With my friends and family.”
Alcaraz admits he needs a more balanced <a Yes, I could be," he added. "That's why I have to plan it in a good period of time. Every time that I go to tournaments I want to be able to enjoy them.
“I don’t want to feel like ‘I have to go there and play there because I have to’ – it’s because I want to and that’s a really important feeling for me.
“Sometimes things have to be missed and I want to miss tennis sometimes.”
Murray: I understand it from the players’ perspective
Speaking to Sky Sports Tennis, Jamie Murray said: “I can totally understand it from the players’ perspective. The Tour is longer than it’s ever been in terms of commitment and days away from home.
“These younger guys have seen how Roger [Federer] and Rafael [Nadal] have elongated their careers – how they finished their careers as well. If they want to play until they’re 34, 35, 36, they will probably have to skip tournaments and that’s something the Tour needs to consider.
“The Tour is catering for over hundred players and they want to be out there competing.”
