British tennis star Liam Broady has dismissed claims that the tennis schedule is too packed after several stars were forced to retire at the China Open.
Jakub Mensik, Lois Boisson, and Camila Osorio were all forced out of their matches in Beijing due to injury.
The ATP Tour has defended its packed schedule despite criticisms from some of the biggest stars in the sport, including Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek.
British star Liam Broady has defended the schedule despite the mass retirements on the Asian leg, dubbing the cancelled matches a ‘coincidence’.
Liam Broady says the tennis schedule is not ‘that bad’
Broady appeared on Sky Sports commentary for Alcaraz’s clash with Casper Ruud at the China Open and he revealed his thoughts on the retirements in the game.
The British star, who reached a career high of World No. 93 in 2023, dismissed concerns about the packed schedule.
“Yeah, I don’t know. I’m not sure it’s whether it’s because of the schedule. I’m going to put it down to coincidence,” said the 31-year-old on Sky Sports.
“I don’t think the schedule on tour is that bad. I know a lot of players complain about it and I know there’s a lot of retirements at the moment, but it’s just part and parcel of sport, full stop.”
The British star concluded: “Injuries do happen at the end of the day,” despite mass complaints from current players.
Iga Swiatek opens up on ‘pretty crazy’ tennis schedule
Swiatek was given a walkover against Osorio in her round of 32 match at the China Open after taking the first set 6-0.
Despite the Pole seeing the benefit of player fatigue, she has still called out the tour for the amount of tournaments in a year.
“Yeah, I think it’s a smart question because obviously the season is long. The second part of it I think people are more fatigued,” said Swiatek in her press conference following her opponent’s withdrawal.
“For sure, unfortunately I think the Asian Swing is the hardest part because you feel like the season is going to finish soon, but you still need to push,” she added.
“For me, like, I don’t know yet how my career is going to look like in couple years. Maybe I will have to choose some tournaments and skip them, even though they are mandatory.
“Yeah, like WTA with all these mandatory rules, they made this pretty crazy for us,” Swiatek added, ahead of her match against Emma Navarro in her round of 16 clash on September 30.
