Australian Open timing comes under fire
(China Daily/Agencies)
Updated: 2006-01-13 06:14

"These are the kind of things that the players, and especially the top players, have been asking for and want a look at for a long time now," Hewitt told a news conference in Sydney.

Lleyton Hewitt

"But nothing still seems to be happening."

Burnout fears

Fears about player burnout have been around for years but reached new levels last season when the field for the lucrative Masters Cup in November was decimated by injury as Agassi, Roddick, Nadal, Safin and Hewitt all pulled out.

The Davis Cup final, usually held in the first week of December, has also contributed to the problem by reducing the break before the Australian summer season starts in January.

"It's a lot tougher on the top players," Hewitt said. "They're normally the ones playing in the Davis Cup final, two and a half weeks after the Masters Cup.

"You've somehow got to have a couple of weeks off there but there's no way your body can bounce back.

The Australian Open, traditionally held in the last two weeks of January, has often been the big loser.

In the days before easy jet travel, the top players in Europe and the U.S. preferred to stay at home rather than undertake the lengthy journey.

Even now, the top players are regularly missing and the problem is made worse by Australia's scorching summer heat where on-court temperatures often exceed 45 degrees Celsius.

Former world No 1 Martina Navratilova famously described the Australian Open as dangerous, writing in a newspaper column:

"It could take someone dying before things will change but I firmly believe the Australian Open should be put back a month until at least February."