Roger Federer has brutal message for millennial tennis stars including Novak Djokovic
Swiss legend says stars like Djok and Alexander Zverev must start to pick-and-choose their tournaments to avoid burnout
ROGER FEDERER has told tired tennis stars: Stop complaining and accept the long schedule.
World No1 Novak Djokovic and young German talent Alexander Zverev have recently moaned about burnout on the men’s Tour and the high number of tournaments.
But Federer, who has banked £119m in prize money in 20 years, says players must be canny and pick-and-choose when they can play.
The 20-time grand slam winner said: “You can get rid of 20 tournaments, but I don’t know who wants that.
"Not those 20 tournaments. Not the 200 or thousand players on tour.
“The other option is player and team decide which are your priorities and how much can a body and mind take, how much travel can someone endure.
“The good thing is we as players are not employed by a club.
“I can walk right now out of the door and go onto vacation if I want to. Nobody is going to stop me. They won’t like it, but I can.
“That’s a massive privilege a tennis player has.
“There’s two ways to look at it. One, it’s nice that there’ so many tournaments. When you get injured, not like skiing, you’re going to miss the entire season.
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“The other way, it would be amazing to have five months to work on your game.
“You could really maximize the player you are, the potential you have. Obviously with the little time we have, there’s only so much you can do.
“The way the tour is structured right now, you have to be very disciplined within the team to decide what’s best for that player, and the player needs to also give his opinion.
“It’s a tricky one, but a good one because we have a lot of highlights in tennis that we really can’t complain.”
Federer will be involved today in the semi-finals of the Nitto ATP Finals, aiming to win a record seventh end-of-season title – and his first since 2011.
Should he win his next two matches – one which will be invariably against the inform Djokovic – then it will represent his 100th tennis trophy.
The Swiss star said: “Personally I’m still not thinking of the number 100.
“I won’t let that get in my head, make me go crazy because it should be something I’m excited about and not something I should feel extra pressure.
“As long as I think Novak is in the draw anyhow, he's playing so good again, it’s never going to be easy.”
Even at the age of 37, Federer continues to play exceptional tennis routinely beating players who are 15 years or younger than him.
Following his shock defeat last Sunday to Japan’s 28-year-old Kei Nishikori, Federer cancelled his practice session and spent the day off with his family.
He said: “I’m a big believer in vacation. I’m a big believer in taking time off sometimes. When I go to work, I go hard, I go the right way, I go professional about it with my team.
“I didn’t think of taking a day off, to be honest, after the Nishikori match. I thought: ‘What are we going to do? Where are we going to train?’
“My team said: ‘How about a day off?’
“I said: ‘Sure, I'm happy for a day off. It's only if you guys want it.’
“This is how we took the decision quickly. The day after Nishikori, as we realised it made me happy, relaxed, motivated for when I do come on court, that it’s working.
“I played so much of my career, so much this season already, especially recently, we just don't feel the urge of having to work on anything. It’s all about matches at this point.”