British Tennis Forum - Celebrating 20 Years!

emmsie69 · Masters Series Champion

Career Break

indiana · Tennis legend

I've never thought about it before but

Maybe anywhere from 6 months to a year?

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Yes, I thought that was an excellent idea too

Basically, a sabatical

One every 10 years, say, for 6-12 months

Really good idea, emmsie

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

emmsie69 wrote:
We've all seen the slow breakdown Harriet has been having and it got me thinking. Of all the top Women I think she is the only one that hasn't had an injury that allows her to utilise a PR (Heather may be another one)
It got me thinking how hard it must be for the Players ranked below 50. They literally have to keep grinding it out year round to maintain any kid of career. Maybe the WTA and ATP could look at allowing 1 6 month non injury related break with a PR.

It's not just the players ranked below 50 that feel it, if this Beeb analysis of top 100 ATP & WTA player workloads in 2025 is to be believed, so if not a PR-based "sabbatical", why not (I'm playing devil's advocate here) a shorter season, no matter the number of tournament organisers'/promoters' noses that would be put out of joint as a result?

My apologies if this subject has been broached & discussed before, but I couldn't see another suitable thread.

emmsie69 · Masters Series Champion

Stircrazy wrote:
emmsie69 wrote:
We've all seen the slow breakdown Harriet has been having and it got me thinking. Of all the top Women I think she is the only one that hasn't had an injury that allows her to utilise a PR (Heather may be another one)
It got me thinking how hard it must be for the Players ranked below 50. They literally have to keep grinding it out year round to maintain any kid of career. Maybe the WTA and ATP could look at allowing 1 6 month non injury related break with a PR.
It's not just the players ranked below 50 that feel it, if this Beeb analysis of top 100 ATP & WTA player workloads in 2025 is to be believed, so if not a PR-based "sabbatical", why not (I'm playing devil's advocate here) a shorter season, no matter the number of tournament organisers'/promoters' noses that would be put out of joint as a result?
My apologies if this subject has been broached & discussed before, but I couldn't see another suitable thread.

A shorter season would benefit the top players more than the journey players. I don't really have much sympathy for the top players, they don't have to play as much as they do. They're unlikely to fall down the rankings too much if they miss a tournament or 2 per year. They will still get into the top tournaments, they just keep playing to maintain their ranking so they get byes or don't face a seed too early. That's a choice, not a financial need in the way it is for those lower down. Drop down the rankings from 200 to 600 and you're playing itf 15k.