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Nadal tired of crowded calendar
01/05/2008 18:30 - (SA)
Barcelona, Spain - Rafael Nadal has lashed out at hard-bitten tennis administrators, saying the compressed 2008 clay-court season is sure to take a physical toll on players.
The world number two charged that "some people" were not listening to player pleas that three Masters Series event in four weeks in the run-up to Roland Garros is a huge physical ask.
"These people are destroying Europe." the Spanish tennis hero said after reaching the third round of the Barcelona Open. "No one is listening to the players."
Already in the Catalan capital, there have been six match retirements on Nadal's side of the draw.
Nadal fears that the chances of him repeating his achievement of last season with clay titles at Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Roma and the French Open is all but impossible.
"You cannot keep a top level over four weeks," he said during a season with the Beijing Olympics also worsening an already tight situation.
The king of clay lost the Hamburg Masters final in 2007 to Roger Federer, going down in a 6-0 final set but rallying three weeks later to complete a third straight trophy run at the French Open.
The Spaniard said that more player breakdowns will surely occur in the coming weeks - and he and his colleagues are not prepared to cop the blame.
"We have to thank the people who decided the calendar," he said, taking direct aim at the Florida-based ATP sanctioning body, "for what they've done to us and to the tournaments.
"Look to them when players cannot finish matches. When a player pulls out of an event, the tournaments should ring the ATP, not blame the player."
The Spaniard said that he has to prepare to be beaten this season due to his huge workload. "I have to assume that I will not always be able to get to the final.
"The only way I have survived so far in Barcelona is because it's a place where the fans are so great, they treat me like a rock star."
But American James Blake, a first-round loser as he played on Spanish clay for the first time in his life, said that the situation can be easily reversed for hard-court players.
"There won't be much time to prepare for the US Open after Beijing," said the world number eight. "The Olympics does make the schedule tougher.
"But on clay you can play almost all year, there are plenty of chances for those guys to earn points.
"But tennis might want to consider eliminating the Davis Cup during Olympic years."
Earlier this season, the majority of Top-10 players signed a petition asking the ATP board not to automatically renew the contract of supremo Etienne de Villiers, architect of the ongoing calendar shake-up which has resulted in lawsuits from Monte Carlo (settled) and Hamburg (to be heard in July).
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