Economic Reality of a Summer Vacation
The tennis tournament schedule is the source of constant discussion on the pro tour. Players complain that there is not enough “off-season” time for their bodies to recover while the tournament directors are often struggling to fill their fields with players. After the French Open and Wimbledon spring swing, it is a perfect time for a “summer vacation.” However, very few players really take one. Rafael Nadal was playing and winning a
clay court event in Germany barely one week after the Wimbledon final. Novak Djokovic who has had a career year so far, is back playing on clay in Croatia only two weeks after Wimbledon. Meanwhile, the American men, i.e. Andy Roddick and James Blake, are playing a full set of “U.S. Open Series” tournaments leading up to the 2007 U.S. Open at the end of August. Roger Federer is one of the few men who seems to take a real break, i.e. a few weeks off, at this time of year. On women’s side, there were Federation Cup semifinal matches the weekend after Wimbledon featuring Venus Williams and Amelie Mauresmo and now the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour is struggling again to fill summer tournament fields due to injuries, etc. Maria Sharapova (shoulder), Serena Williams (thumb), etc. Justine Henin seems to be one of the few players on the women’s side who is also taking a few weeks off ala Roger Federer. Amelie Mauresmo has also typically taken several weeks off at this time of the year and this summer is no exception. However, she seems to really need the break this time to recharge her batteries, create new goals, etc. and may extend her two week “vacation” if she hasn’t found the desire again. In order to have a real “vacation”, players need to have a week or so to hang up the rackets and then a week or two to practice and train again. Therefore, one hopes that future tournament calendars will not have any top-tier events for the three weeks following Wimbledon such as the 2009 provisional Sony Ericsson WTA Tour calendar. In the end, it is really the top players who are playing a lot of matches and need the vacation time. Lower-ranked players want more tournaments so they can accumulate wins, points and prize money.
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