Following Carlos Alcaraz’s withdrawal from the 2025 Shanghai Masters, a leading athlete welfare and injury prevention expert has discussed the importance of tennis players managing their schedules.
Stephen Smith, the founder and CEO of Kitman Labs — which is the world’s leading sports science and data company — also spoke about the crucial role that physiotherapists perform.
Alcaraz pulled out ahead of the Shanghai ATP 1000 tournament shortly after clinching the title at the Japan Open — his eighth tournament win of an outstanding 2025 season.
The world No 1 sustained a left ankle injury in the first of his five wins in Tokyo, and while it was not enough to stop his run, he confirmed he was dealing with “some physical issues” in his Shanghai withdrawal announcement.
The 22-year-old Spaniard expressed the need to “rest and recover”, which would be fully understandable even without an injury given his exploits in recent months.
The success of dominant players like Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner means they often play the maximum number of matches at every tournament they enter.
Starting with the Monte Carlo Masters in April, Alcaraz reached the final at nine consecutive tournaments across all three surfaces, claiming seven titles and finishing as a runner-up twice. He has played 50 singles matches since the start of April (including two at the Laver Cup last month) — the most possible from the events he has entered.
In an exclusive interview, Tennis365 asked Smith about the scheduling challenges for Alcaraz, and whether it is simply impossible for top stars to play every tournament.
“Yeah, I think it’s certainly going to be challenging,” Smith said. “It’s going to make it really hard to play in all of them. So I think players probably do need to be able to gauge that.
“The problem is, I think, in the absence of research, in the absence of objectivity, how do they know when to do that? We know that every time you take the court, there’s an inherent risk that injury may occur. The same thing in football, the same thing in basketball, the same thing in rugby. Every time you step out, there’s an inherent risk.
“What we really need to understand is, when does that risk increase? When does it increase to a level that is higher than the general risk that we would like to take?
“And I think what we need to do is to arm athletes and their support staff around them with the ability to understand that and to be able to make those calculated decisions.
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“To be able to say, ‘Okay, I’ve played three competitions in a row now. I know that my risk of injury or my likelihood of injury is going to increase by 2x or 3x. However, if I sat through this competition and came back for the next one, actually that will revert back to normative levels.’
“If we had that type of information, then we’re empowering people. You’re not necessarily telling them what they have to do, but you’re allowing them to be able to plan their season better.
“You’re allowing them to look at the global calendar and say,’ Okay, here’s the ones that I really want to focus on and target. And here’s the ones that I’m actually going to take it easier for’.”
Alcaraz lauded his long-time physio Juanjo Moreno for the work he did in Tokyo after his second round victory and in his winners’ speech.
“I have said it before and I will say it again, I have the best physio in the world, who I trust 100%. The work he has done for the ankle has been great. I could play normally, which is great,” the six-time major champion said.
Is the role that physios play in helping athletes compete, particularly when they are not at 100%, something that is overlooked in elite sport?
“Absolutely,” Smith said. “I think when you think about individual sports, they don’t necessarily always have access to the same resources that you may have in team sports.
“It’s easy to have two or three physios for a roster of 10 people. But for somebody in an individual sport to have one-to-one care like that is quite challenging to actually do, so a lot of players don’t get access to that. But the importance of that is huge.
“These people have to understand their body is their business, so being able to spend that necessary time, doing soft tissue work, getting rid of inflammatory by-products or any of the negative by-products of exercise and activity is crucially important for them.
“Especially when we’re talking about a calendar that is congested as it is. Being able to have somebody who’s looking at your mechanics and how you’re moving.
“Being able to have somebody that’s looking at your range of motion and how your joints are operating and performing. Being able to have somebody that’s looking at your neuromuscular performance and being able to then optimise the way that you’re training and change types of exercises that you’re doing to ensure you’re operating as normal.
“It’s like, you wouldn’t drive a car all year long without servicing it. This is exactly the same thing. So having that mechanic alongside them, thinking about it in Formula 1 terms, if you’re going to drive your car really hard throughout a race, you need to come into the pit lane and have the mechanics tune it up often. I think it’s exactly the same thing.
“We’re talking about players now that are not just going out and trying to go through the motions. We’re talking about athletes that are trying to go from really extensive, high-intensity competition, to competition, to competition. That means that the level of service and care that’s needed is exponentially what it was many years ago.”
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