Long recovery breaks and advanced conditining foresee ageing players dominate world tennis for years to come

Five of the top 10 players in the current ATP World rankings are dwelling in their early and mid-thirties. And while two of them are ruling the men’s tennis after successfully recovering from injuries, the other three are on a course to recovery as they enjoy their brief hiatus from the game.

Hence, the likes of Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka, Andy Murray, Kei Nishikori among others giving a miss to certain events shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone. Of course, the absence of the abovementioned players made things quite easier for the World no. 1 and 2, but credits should be given to them for changing the rules of the game forever.

Federer, who beat Nadal in the Shanghai Masters final to claim the title, sounded surprised by the Spaniard’s decision to participate in the tournament after the hectic US Open and Laver Cup games back to back. He had said, “It's nice to see him keep going, a really big win for him (China Open, Beijing) on Sunday. He won the US Open, played the Laver Cup, so for him to go to Beijing and win it right away, I expected him to pull out, to be honest, just because, why not? And come here to Shanghai. Or maybe just skip Asia totally… There is no reason for him to push so hard."

One can understand just what Federer is pointing at here. He has played 27 matches less than Nadal in 2017 winning the same amount of titles, which indicates how he has decoded the perfect blend of fitness and efficacy to go hand in hand. He is not aiming a chunk of games to score big, rather he is working on his body to be in the best of conditions whenever he plays.

Djokovic, who plans to make a return in Australian Open next year, told Serbian newspaper Novosti, “I did not want to take a break, I thought it would get better... but the problems were intensifying. The whole thing about my tennis and what happened to me is more complex than a single word, although that [the elbow] was the biggest problem. I could not train like I wanted, could not play with full intensity, had to adjust my serving .”

Former world no. 1 Mats Silander says, “I think some players figure out how to take a rest period to heal themselves. But others are too afraid of doing that because they are worried about being unable to get back to the top of their game, so they run themselves into the ground. I think it’s a learning curve and people will realize with Roger and Rafa as examples that there is nothing to worry about.”

It was in the 1980s and 1990s when the rackets changed from heavy wood to light graphite, and tennis became a game of strength and power. Angled shots to create top-spin, which makes a stroke harder to return, largely created to the growing instances of wrist injuries. Adding topspin to the ball could lead players to drop their wrists rather than holding them stiff, which puts more strain on the joints.

Tennis has changed on multiple levels and players struggling to survive in this cut-throat sporting world need to have inhuman fitness even in their thirties. A player has to shift his focus instantly from performance to recovery after a game, which means replacing fluid and vital nutrients. For some, ice baths, compression garments and other recovery methods work well.

Maintaining an elite level of performance on changing tennis surface needs education on proper scheduling and preparation. Bill Norris, former ATP Director of Medical Services, who has spent 35 years patching up the broken and sore bodies of players from Ken Rosewall to Federer, is of the opinion that players have little choice but to pace themselves by taking regular breaks if they want to stay competitive late in their careers.