Petra Cetkovska became the 14th player to withdraw or retire from this year's US Open
There are some strange goings on at Flushing Meadows. The tally of injured, ill, or indisposed creaked up to 15 on Thursday, more if you count the already absent Kim Clijsters and Lleyton Hewitt, and all in just four days of competition.
At the time of writing, the following had left the heart of Queens not entirely well: Petra Cetkovska (withdrew), Radek Stepanek (retired), Venus Williams (withdrew), Robin Soderling (withdrew), Yanina Wickmayer (retired), Louk Sorensen (retired), Conor Niland (retired), Jamie Hampton (retired), Kei Nishikori (retired), Ayumi Morita (retired), Misaki Doi(retired), Frank Dancevic (retired), Karol Beck (retired), Marinko Matosevic (retired), Lara Pous-Tio and Carla Suarez Navarro (retired).
Such a litany has leant an aura of sick bay syndrome to the year’s fourth and final major. While the likes of Andy Murray are avoiding the locker room and watching their food like a hawk for fear of the lurgy rubbing off , players must be going into their matches never quite sure if they’re going to be handed an easy pass, or not. Is there something wrong with their opponent? Or are they completely fine? A bit like waiting for the ref’s whistle to blow.
And even if it should eventuate that the person on the other side of the net is injured, or struggling, as we know all too well, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll win. Remember what happened to Viktor Troicki, playing a one-legged Murray in Paris? He armaggeddoned completely.
Fellow British No 1 Elena Baltacha touched on this when she faced a cramping Jamie Hampton in her first match in New York.
“Sometimes it’s hard when you know someone’s injured or something like that happens and they can’t really move that great,” she said. “Somtimes your game can just completely go. So I really tried hard to concentrate and stay there and keep that control and get ahead as much as I could.”
Some of the injury-related revelations, such as that of Venus Williams, are serious indeed. Big V explained that she is suffering from Sjögren’s syndrome, a chronic autoimmune disease in which people’s white blood cells attack their moisture-producing glands. For an athlete, that is very bad news indeed. Even worse news is that she presented similar symptoms as long ago as 2007, so who knows how long this particular bedevilment has been lurking.
Others, such as Conor Niland, whose stomach was doing somersaults on him as he tried to play the best player in the world on the biggest court on the world, will be fine in a few days. His body just played a mean trick.
But the increasingly large procession of players through the medical centre yet again highlights the battering that tennis inflicts on the human body. Because ultimately, no matter the drive, desire, and death stare, if the body says no, that’s it.
It’s something Tim Henman pointed out recently, while discussing Roger Federer’s 30th birthday. According to Henman, one of the reasons Federer is still playing to such a high level, and will continue to do so, is because his body has let him. Whether that’s because of his sensible scheduling, or the way he plays, all grace and guile, or just luck – a smidge of all three, I would wager – Federer has been remarkably injury-free. The Swiss won his 225th Grand Slam match last night, second only behind Jimmy Connors on 233.
His body will catch up eventually, like it did for Andre Agassi, who spent his final year on the tour aged 35 sleeping on the floor rather than in a bed because his back was so bad. At that point it’s more than time to wave farewell.
Of course, style of play is not the only culprit. You could play like a turbo-charged Rafael Nadal for every second of every match, and if you only had to play for five tournaments a year, the chances are, you wouldn’t get injured. Even if you played like Gael Monfils, who managed to hit a ball while flat on his back yesterday.
And so it is that the debate about the length of the season rears its Medusa-esque head once again.
The tennis calendar has been disected and discussed almost as much as Fred Perry and 1936. Is it too long? Are there too many hard court events? Where should things like Davis and Fed Cup fit in? When do players ever get to take a break?
It is a punishing schedule. Start the year in Australia, in the heat, dip in and out of Asia, if you feel like it. Then to America, for the two hard court Masters, then to Europe for the clay and Roland Garros. Then, quick-step and bend the knees to Wimbledon, for some grass. Then back to the States and the hard courts before dropping in on New York, and then, more hard courts, in Asia and Europe, before finishing off in either London or Istanbul. And then do a whole load of weights and sprints before doing it all over again. The ATP powers that be may be lopping two weeks off the end of the season next year, but they also have to fit in the Olympics as well.
All of which means that by this time of the year, with eight months gone and still three to go, it’s no surprise to see more than a few players wilting like tired spinach.
But, on the other hand, look at Novak Djokovic. The perfect counter-argument. After barely a week off in between 2010 and 2011, much of which was spent celebrating and manicuring his shaved head, the super Serb has pit-stopped through all those events, winning all but one of them. He has played 61 matches to date this year, lost just two of them, and apart from the odd knee niggle and shoulder tweak, looks a picture of health. Perhaps it’s the great anti-gluten move.
So, what to conclude? Have too many colds, sore limbs and dodgy takeaways all happened to collide in the first week of this Slam? Or is there more to it? We’ll find out as the days go by.
