Djokovic criticized Alcaraz

Djokovic once participated in the Players Council of the Men's Professional Tennis Association (ATP), even holding the position of president. But because he was dissatisfied with ATP's policy, the Serbian tennis player pushed for the creation of an independent federation outside the official system, called the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA).

In the spirit of fiercely defending his point of view, Djokovic many times put himself in a position to confront Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal - those who chose to fight within the ATP framework. Currently, at the age of 38 and at the end of his career, despite having all the titles, the world No. 5 tennis player continues to fight against the remaining problems of the ATP, including the increasingly harsh match schedule.

"Those who know me, know my press conferences and the time I was on the ATP Players' Council, have seen that more than 15 years ago, I talked about the need for us to unite and rearrange the competition schedule. fight. I am one of the people who do not support extending the time of the Masters 1000 tournament, because it reduces the number of days in the athletes' schedule", Djokovic said on the sidelines of the Masters 1000 ATP Shanghai tournament.

Previously, two female tennis players Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff also spoke out harshly about the same issue, emphasizing that the number of mandatory tournaments for top players is increasing. World number one Carlos Alcaraz, who just won the ATP 500 Tokyo championship, also supported his female colleagues, and said: "The schedule is too tight, the organizers need to do something to change ".

When asked about the statements of Alcaraz, Swiatek and Gauff, Djokovic expressed dissatisfaction. He said: "Some players say that there are mandatory regulations, there is no other choice but to follow them. But those regulations are directly related to their bonuses and financial benefits. They have the right to refuse these bonuses if they want to play less. Not to mention, the players also participate in exhibition matches, so saying that is somewhat contradictory ".

According to Marca, without mentioning it by name, Djokovic is implicitly criticizing Alcaraz. Although the current season still has two ATP 500 events in Basel and Vienna, with the recent championship win in Tokyo, the Spanish tennis player will definitely lead the ATP 500 Bonus Pool in 2025, thereby pocketing at least 1 million USD in addition to the prize money earned from the tournaments.

The total prize fund of the ATP 500 Bonus Pool is 3 million USD, which will be divided among the top 6 players of the overall table, depending on subject to participation conditions. To be eligible for the bonus, a player must participate in at least 5 ATP 500 events throughout the 2025 season and complete regional competition commitments.

In addition, Alcaraz also confirmed that he will participate in the Six Kings Slam performance event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this October, along with Djokovic himself and world number two Jannik Sinner. The Italian tennis player also recently announced that each player should decide for themselves the tournament they compete in.

Djokovic also implicitly criticized his juniors for lacking initiative in protecting the interests of themselves and their colleagues, only complaining, instead of calling for joint action to change, in the face of an increasingly harsh competition schedule.

"The players are not united enough", he explained. "They don't participate as much as necessary. They just comment, complain, then leave. If there's a problem, after a while they come back to complain again. Just appearing in the media and talking about this or that issue may get attention for a moment, but it doesn't change anything. I know that from personal experience. We need top tennis players to sit back, get to work, and pay more attention to the collective good. "