Paris - James Blake said that injures which forced Rafael
Nadal and Roger Federer to quit the Paris Masters 'couldn't be a
clearer signal that the year is too long.'
The American, who lost 6-4, 6-3 in Saturday's Bercy semi-final
against Jo-Wilfriend Tsonga, will miss a trip to the season-ending
masters Cup in Shanghai for the second straight year after playing
the 2006 final against Federer.
Federer withdrew prior to a Friday quarter-final with back pain
while Nadal quit with knee problems after losing the first set
against Nikolay Davydenko the same day.
Blake said that with the ATP revising the schedule for 2009 with
more required events in exchange for increased prize money, the deal
is looking like a poor one for top player.
'I think we're going to have to deal with eight for eight
mandatory events,' he said of the re-branded 'Masters 1000' for 2009.
'It's unfortunate, because I don't think that's good for the
players.
'In this tournament, you see the top two players in the world
getting injured - it couldn't be a clearer signal that the year is
too long.
'There's too many mandatory events, too many times that we have to
be playing,' said the 28-year-old. 'Look at baseball players,
football players, basketball players, they have a real off-season.
'That's' why they're playing into their 40s and we're retiring at
30.
'It's just tough on our body. When the top two players can't make
it through a season at 22 and 27 years old - the peak of their health
- it's saying something about the season.'
The former member of the ATP Player Council said that next year's
workload on court will be huge.
'To make us have eight mandatory events, four mandatory Grand
Slams, and four out of 11 mandatory 500s, it just seems mind boggling
to me as a player.'
The American criticised 'people outside of the game making those
decisions.'
'I wish the players could have decided that a lot more. I think
the council is going to have more power soon now that Roger, Rafa,
and Novak (Djokovic) are on it.
'I hope people start listening to the players, otherwise you're
going to have too many careers shortened, and that's cheating the
fans.'
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