Former world No 3 Ivan Ljubicic has suggested that tennis cannot win right now amid a barrage of criticism against the sport.
This season, players’ complaints about an increasingly physical and elongated tour have escalated, leading to calls for a calendar reform.
Injuries to top players such as Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, and Jack Draper have sparked debate about the quality of tennis balls and whether more needs to be done to protect the game’s stars.
The US Open‘s late-night finishes have come under fire, with Venus Williams not starting her first-round clash until after midnight, while Alexander Zverev has had back-to-back finishes in the early hours of the morning. Moreover, Greg Rusedski wants weed banned from Flushing Meadows following Aryna Sabalenka’s new complaints.
On the flip side, former British player Mark Petchey felt it was important to stress that tennis is “exploding in popularity” and more should be done to celebrate the “hardest sport in the world”.
More Tennis News
Want more from Tennis365? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for tennis coverage you can trust.
Now, Roger Federer‘s former coach, Ljubicic, has echoed similar sentiments in response to journalist Christopher Clarey highlighting some unwanted records at the US Open with late finishes.
He tweeted, “THREE nights past 2 a.m., not the kind of record you want to be setting. Is there not a much better way for the health and well-being of everyone involved in the tournament?”
2:01 am finish on opening night at the #USOpen
12:26 am finish on Night 2
1:55 am finish on Night 3
11:15 pm finish on Night 4
2:15 am finish on Night 5
2:07 am finish on Night 6
THREE nights past 2 a.m., not the kind of record you want to be setting
Is there not a much better… pic.twitter.com/axCL75Q7w1
— Christopher Clarey 🇺🇸 🇫🇷 🇪🇸 (@christophclarey) September 5, 2026
Among the many commenters, former French Open semi-finalist Ljubicic intimated that the US Open organisers will be damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
He tweeted, “Well we have @rolandgarros scheduling one night session match – controversial? @Wimbledon with 11pm curfew… Controversial?… Seems like whatever our sport does is controversial…”
Many pushed back against Clarey’s take and agreed with Ljubicic’s. Whether or not any changes will be made going forward this tournament or next year remains to be seen.
But if the sport’s biggest stars, such as Sinner and Alcaraz, continue to miss long chunks of the season, that is not a good look for tennis.
WHAT NEXT? What other players were saying about Carlos Alcaraz right before the US Open
