Tennis players feel the heat of gruelling schedule

Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka have reputations for being supreme athletes but a gruelling tennis season that offers little time to recover has left them among a number of big-name players who will be missing from the US Open with injuries.Despite medical advances and a greater understanding by the players on how their bodies work, there is little down time for anyone who wants to be a regular competitor during the ATP and WTA seasons, which last approximately 11 and 10 months, respectively.“Most of the injuries in tennis are what are classified as overuse,” Todd Ellenbecker, the ATP’s Vice President of Medical Services, said. “Not one particular force or trauma but a continued, repeated overload of smaller forces that lead to a breakdown in the player’s body.”Five top 11 men’s players are among those who will miss the year’s final grand slam, which started in New York yesterday. They are former world number one Djokovic (elbow), Andy Murray (hip), 2016 champion Wawrinka (knee), Canada’s Milos Raonic (wrist) and Japan’s Kei Nishikori (wrist).The women’s draw has not been robbed of the same level of star power with the most high-profile withdrawal due to injury being 2011 US Open champion Samantha Stosur (hand).With a non-stop stream of tournaments on hard courts, grass and clay, coupled with racket technology that allows players to hit the ball harder than ever before, the physical toll on bodies can mount up.“Tennis is indeed unique in that it is one of the only high level sports played on multiple surfaces at the elite level,” said Ellenbecker. “We know that different ball speeds, and trajectories/court surface interfaces do affect the player’s body... however definitive injury risk research is scant.”Former world number one Roger Federer, who had been blessed with a body that seemed bullet-proof against the aches, pains and injuries suffered by most top athletes, is in the midst of one of the greatest ever comebacks from injury.After missing the second half of last season with a knee problem, Federer has won five titles this year, including the Australian Open and Wimbledon trophies.The Swiss is also aware that now aged 36, he not only needs to be judicious with his schedule but also has to be cautious about how far he should push his body.Hence opting to skip the claycourt season, including the French Open despite being fully fit, paid off for the Swiss as just weeks later he became the first man to win eight Wimbledon titles.The run enjoyed by Federer and 37-year-old American Venus Williams, a finalist at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year, has prompted many to ask whether a 40-year could soon walk off with one of the four grand slam titles. From a truly anatomical standpoint, the work the players are doing now to maintain elite levels of human performance well into their 30s it is indeed possible and perceivable that one day a 40-year-old could still be a grand slam champion. Indeed, that day doesn’t seem to be too far away.