One explanation for the number of injuries affecting young players on the women’s tour is due to the surface they are playing on, according to former world No.8 Virginia Ruzici.
2019 has seen rising stars on the tour shine and struggle with physical problems. US Open champion Bianca Andreescu is currently sidelined with a knee problem and French Open semi-finalist Amanda Anisimova has been blighted with issues concerning both her foot and back. At the WTA Finals in China, Naomi Osaka was forced to exit the tournament due to a shoulder injury.
Ruzici, who won the 1978 French Open and is the current agent of Simona Halep, believes there needs to be more tournaments played on either clay or grass. This year on the WTA Tour there was 21 Premier tournaments played. 15 on those were played on a hard court compared to four on the clay and just two on the grass.
“Personally, if I were somewhere in the organizations that run this sport I would put some more tournaments on the clay and even on the grass.” Ruzici told gsp.ro.
“It (the tour) plays too much on hard, even indoors and is very difficult for the body. Hard-court dominates, we have 50-60 percent and 40 percent divided between grass and clay.’
“It is huge to play on hard courts, and this leads to frequent injuries.”
Saying she would like to see the Australian Open revert back to the days when the tournament took place on the grass, the 64-year-old is cautiously upbeat about the next generation of female tennis players. In the current top 20, eight places are occupied by women under the age of 23. Including world No.1 Ash Barty.
“All these players of the future promise a great deal and have a great future, but the external factors greatly influence what happens in a career.” She said.
“This is the case of Anisimova. I would say that Andreescu is a more mature player, and the proof is a constant success on the cement. Tennis has become extremely physical, playing a lot on the cement, the most difficult surface for the body.”
Looking ahead to the new season, Ruzici is the latest person to predict that there will be a new grand slam winner in the men’s game. Backing two-time finalist Dominic Thiem to win the French Open. She is also impressed by the rise of Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas and his achievement in London last month.
“Tsitsipas at the Champions Tournament (ATP Finals). On an indoor surface, not extremely fast, but I was impressed with both his mental and physical constancy. He became extremely strong physically, mentally he was extremely concentrated. He had a great champion attitude. ” She explained.
“I was also impressed with Thiem, who has shown himself to be very physically strong, hitting harder on both sides. Both showed full tennis, did not stand on the bottom line of the court, hit with arm speed, strength and variety, came to the net.”
Ruzici is one of only seven players in the Open Era to reach three finals at the same grand slam. In 1978 she won the French Open singles and women’s doubles titles. She was also runner-up in the mixed doubles with Patrice Dominguez.
