Andy Murray: ATP Players May Strike If Tennis Schedule Isn't Changed

Sep 20, 2011 - On Monday, Sept. 12, Nadal Djokovic did it. He won his third Grand Slam title of the year. After 408 ATP matches and a 64-2 record on the season, Djokovic won his first U.S Open.

Six days later, he retired from Serbia's Davis Cup match against Argentina. The cause: a lower back injury.

A 66-match season may not sound like a lot to a baseball player, who sits between innings and spits in the outfield while waiting for the next can of corn to fly his way. But for a tennis player, each game is at least a two-hour, three-set match. For Djokovic, that means he played a minimum of 198 sets.

It's why Andy Murray braced the tennis world for a strike from tennis players and the treacherous schedule they face.

With 14 retirements during the 2011 U.S. Open, concerns were raised again that Association of Tennis Professional tour players are scheduled to play too many events, with little time to rest.

If things don't change, Murray, the world No. 4 ace, said he has no problem putting down his racket until things change.

The ATP said it was "committed to working with the players and other governing bodies to continue to address these issues." A change to the schedule will go into place in the 2012 calendar. Last year, then-ATP chief executive Adam Helfant made the Paris Masters and the World Tour finals back-to back tournaments, which will save two weeks on the calendar.

But with that change, Murray wasn't satisfied with the speed.

"To get another change implemented may take five or six years at the rate things are going and then all of us will be done (retired)," Murray said. "We want it to happen sooner rather than later."

But if they don't work quickly, Murray told BBC sports that players he's spoken to aren't afraid of packing their rackets in their bags. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that but I'm sure the players will consider it," Murray said. "The players should and do have a major say in how the game is run, which is one of the key reasons the ATP Tour was formed as an equal partnership between players and tournaments."

The ATP released a statement that included the following:

"As you know, the calendar has long been a topic of conversation and just last year we announced that we would be lengthening our off-season by two weeks beginning in 2012, meaning players will have seven weeks in between ATP World Tour seasons

"The health and wellbeing of the players is paramount, and the ATP has implemented a number of changes to address player health concerns in recent years - including reducing draw sizes of ATP World Tour Masters 1,000 events, giving byes to the top eight seeds, and eliminating five-set finals."

Players are planning to meet next month in Shanghai to decide its next moves. Currently, the ATP Tour lasts for 11 months.