Former British No 1 Kyle Edmund has spoken to Tennis365 about some of the possible factors behind the high number of injuries in the sport.
Tennis stars missing big tournaments has been an unfortunate and persistent theme on both the ATP and WTA tours in 2026.
There were 18 players who withdrew from Wimbledon across both the men’s and women’s main draw entry lists before main draw play began.
Big names like Carlos Alcaraz, Jack Draper, Emma Raducanu, Victoria Mboko and Lorenzo Musetti have all spent significant spells out due to injury in recent months.
Edmund was just 30 when he retired from tennis in August 2025 having suffered with a host of serious injury issues in the latter stages of his career.
In an exclusive interview with Tennis365, Edmund highlighted the increased physicality of modern tennis and the demands of the schedule.
“I think there’s no doubt the game is more physical, certainly being on the tour and speaking to ex-players… the demands, the way people are moving is physical,” said Edmund, who achieved a career-high ranking of world No 14
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“There’s chat about the calendar, more days at the tournaments, the extended Masters events. [There’s] probably less downtime between the tournaments, so you don’t have time to do physical blocks to build your body up throughout the year. You’re very much maintaining.
“So apart from the off-season, you’re just maintaining throughout the year, and to maintain and do training where you’re just, not trying to increase your fitness, but just cope with the demands for 11 months of the year, can be a challenge.”
Edmund, who reached the semi-finals at the 2018 Australian Open, also suggested that the tennis balls used on the circuit could be a reason for an increase in arm and wrist injuries.
“There’s another thing: the balls. I don’t have stats with the balls, but the arm injuries, the wrist injuries… I had a wrist injury at the back end of my career. I never had any wrist injuries before… I don’t what that was,” said the two-time ATP Tour title winner.
“I was obviously coming back from a knee injury, so it might’ve just been I wasn’t ready for the demands of playing match after match.”
Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev, Alcaraz and Raducanu are among the players who have complained about the balls used on the tours in recent years.
Tennis legend Djokovic said: “That’s probably the biggest difference I can notice, compared to maybe 10, 15 years ago. It’s the balls.”
In February 2025, seven-time major champion Alcaraz said: “I think last year there were many injuries, many players with elbow or shoulder issues. It needs to change. I know they will change it.
“Every week, practically every week, we have different balls, different conditions, so it’s complicated to adapt to them.”
The post Kyle Edmund speaks out about injuries after Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Emma Raducanu complained appeared first on Tennis365.
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