Djokovic: "Tennis needs a reset – A lot is happening behind the scenes"

Novak Djokovic made a successful start to his Wimbledon campaign by defeating China&#39;s Yibing Wu 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 in the first round. The match lasted three hours and 12 minutes, and the Serbian star will face Stefanos Tsitsipas in the next round after the Greek defeated Hugo Gaston in straight sets.Speaking after the match, Djokovic admitted he had expected an easier contest after taking the opening set but said his opponent significantly raised his level.&quot;I did the video analysis. He hadn&#39;t won many matches and had even been losing at Challenger events. After the first set, I thought I could finish it in straight sets, but he raised his level. In the end, it probably could have gone to a fifth set... I&#39;m glad I managed to stay focused.&quot;Although the initial question was about the match, the press conference quickly turned into a broader discussion about the state of professional tennis. Asked about the growing number of injuries among younger players, Djokovic said he believes the problem stems from the increasingly congested schedule and the way the sport&#39;s biggest tournaments are organized.&quot;That&#39;s a good question. It&#39;s a valid observation, and the statistics show there are more and more injuries. There are two perspectives. The commercial side of the sport is becoming increasingly dominant and keeps pushing for more&mdash;longer tournaments, new events in an already packed calendar... I don&#39;t play nearly as much as I used to, so I have the luxury of not being exposed to the same intense schedule as most players. One of the biggest changes was turning the Masters events into two-week tournaments, and I&#39;ve always been against that. Commercially, it creates added value&mdash;but for whom? Mostly for the tournament owners. Players need to understand the background of that 30-year agreement and realize it doesn&#39;t benefit them nearly as much as they think.&quot;The Serbian star believes that many of the changes introduced in recent years have benefited tournament organizers far more than the players themselves.&quot;After that, the Masters owners built new infrastructure and stadiums, but those investments have also come at the players&#39; expense and at the expense of the ATP. There are many examples, many reasons that remain under the radar... The players drew the short straw, but it&#39;s what they agreed to. I didn&#39;t have the power to stop it.I see Carlos Alcaraz and several others complaining about being away from home for too long and having too many tournaments. I understand them. I think tennis needs a reset, and I don&#39;t believe the ATP and WTA Tours are functioning well. A lot is happening behind the scenes. The Grand Slams have always been the most important events and always will be, but both Tours need to rethink the calendar, the rules, and the overall structure. Everyone is looking for quick fixes, but if we truly want this sport to grow and succeed, we have to bring all the key stakeholders together and find common ground. The problem is that there&#39;s much more conflict than unity, so I&#39;m not optimistic that it will happen.I&#39;m in favor of change. We have to make tennis more appealing to younger generations. The average age of a tennis fan is 61. Younger audiences aren&#39;t going to sit and watch five-hour matches every day. We need to find ways to reach them. We need shorter matches and a more dynamic product&mdash;right now, it&#39;s simply too long.&quot; During the press conference, Djokovic also spoke about Boris Becker, his former coach, who was unable to attend this year&#39;s Wimbledon due to his continued ban on entering the United Kingdom.&quot;We&#39;ve been in touch, and he still hasn&#39;t been granted permission to enter the UK. I&#39;m certainly not the only one who would like to see Boris here. He&#39;s a tennis legend and my former coach. We worked together during the most successful period of my career. He&#39;s a dear friend, I care about him, and I hope he&#39;ll be allowed to return. He&#39;s still the youngest Wimbledon champion in history, so he has a very special connection with this place.&quot;

Djokovic: "Tennis needs a reset – A lot is happening behind the scenes"

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