AUSTRALIA ON – Alcaraz, Nadal, Kyrgios and now Korda and others: why are there (already) so many injuries?

That’s noticeable, that’s true. However, this is not an abstract sign that the general condition of the troops is good. Far from it. At a time when the body needs to be fresh and ready, we have rarely seen, or even rarely, seen so much physical damage from the first Grand Slam of the year among the best in the world. This Australian Open 2023 was shaping up to be a tough generational duel between the two-headed hydra Djokovic-Nadal and the warriors of unbridled youth. Especially for now, it’s turning into an infirmary competition.

Moutet will be operated on

On the French side, we are not left out, as Serbian coach Petar Popovic told us this morning, as Corentin Moutet broke the tendon in his right wrist and will be operated on for an indefinite absence next Monday. Constant Lestienne played shoulderless and therefore no serve.

Obviously, the problem of injury in senior tennis is actually not new. There, however, the number of casualties (and especially, perhaps, their identities) is defiant. Toni Nadal, as he often does, rang the alarm bells in a column published a few days ago. El Pais.

“Once again, I regret that the leaders have not done anything for so long to protect the players in a discipline that has become so aggressive.wrote Rafael’s uncle in the Spanish daily. It seems that no one wants to slow down the speed of the ball, which reduces the tactical dimension, instead subjecting the corps to more brutality to keep the ball in play. The problem has been obvious for a long time. But nothing is being done to reduce the intensity of the rallies.”

“No, it’s not really relevant, I personally think the balls are of very good quality.He believes in Moutet’s new coach Petar Popovic. These are different conditions for each player. Simply put, injuries are quite normal in high-level sports, and especially tennis, where the competition is huge. In a five-set match, everyone is pushing their bodies to their limits, even going beyond their limits, which is certainly good for the audience but a shock for the bodies. We need to do longer sessions to prepare for this. And here comes the break…

Next, everyone has their own way of managing their injury and, above all, communicating it. Some keep it until the end. Others talk about it more naturally. And in the middle of it all, we have a somewhat in-between Novak Djokovic, who clearly needs casting, which undoubtedly corresponds to his impressive, even theatrical aspect, while at the same time developing a kind of mystery. he complies with his obligations as a favourite.

All this earned him a lot of criticism and suspicion, but in the end, not much has changed at the root of the problem: today, players who do not improve without the slightest pain are rare, and perhaps even nonexistent. It’s as if in 2023 tennis it has become a kind of fatalism, almost a kind of normality one could write. But as Toni Nadal said, maybe it shouldn’t be…