'We need to protect players' – how can tennis avoid breaking point?
With the 2026 tennis season kicking off, BBC Sport analyses why many top players are complaining about burnout and what could be done to prevent it.
With the 2026 tennis season kicking off, BBC Sport analyses why many top players are complaining about burnout and what could be done to prevent it.
Team Germany made a literal splash Friday in Sydney before they hope to make a figurative one at the United Cup.
The team that won the title in 2024 took a quick break before the competition to visit the famous Wylie’s Baths near Coogee Beach. The Germans — Alexander Zverev, Eva Lys, Laura Siegemund, Kevin Krawietz, Patrick Zahraj and Mina Hodzic — enjoyed their time at the tidal swimming pool, especially the team bonding.
“I’m a big fan of team events, so I’m really happy Team Germany is all together here,” Lys said. “I feel like we don’t have many times [when] ATP and also WTA can stick together, so I’m excited.”
<img alt=”Team Germany visits Wylie’s Baths Friday before the start of Sydney action in the United Cup.” style=”width:100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2026/01/02/12/15/germany-united-cup-2026-beach.jpg?w=100%25″ />
Zverev and Siegemund helped lead Germany to glory two years ago, defeating Poland 2-1 in an unforgettable final. Zverev and Siegemund clinched that tie in a deciding mixed doubles. That year, Angelique Kerber played singles, while this edition Lys is taking the mantle.
“Slightly different team than two years ago when we won it. But Laura is here, I’m here. We had good success in the mixed always in the past,” Zverev said. “We have a great female player in Eva this time, so it’s nice to have this big of support and hopefully we can go on and have the same success as two years ago.”
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Team Germany begins its pursuit of a second United Cup trophy on Sunday during the day session in Group F against the Netherlands. Lys is scheduled to face Suzan Lamens before Zverev takes on Tallon Griekspoor.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]After a challenging 2025 season, Stefanos Tsitsipas launched his 2026 campaign on a positive note on Friday at the United Cup in Perth, where he guided Greece to a confident opening victory over Japan.
Following Maria Sakkari’s commanding straight-sets win over Naomi Osaka to give Greece the early advantage, Tsitsipas sealed the tie with an assertive 6-3, 6-4 victory over Shintaro Mochizuki inside RAC Arena.
Tsitsipas and Sakkari then pressed home the advantage with a high-energy 6-2, 6-3 mixed doubles win over Yasutaka Uchiyama and Nao Hibino to secure the second 3-0 result on Day 1, following Argentina’s shutout of Spain.
Playing his first match since last September after a back injury layoff, former World No. 3 Tsitsipas recovered from an early break to take control and deliver a composed performance for the 2023 semi-finalists.
“It’s been a rough few months for me,” Tsitsipas said. “I was in a lot of uncertainty and I was not sure if I could really compete, so to see myself at that level again and showing some really good tennis is something I’m grateful for. Let’s keep it going.”
After his second round upset by Matteo Gigante at Roland Garros last year, Tsitsipas dropped outside the Top 20 of the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time since August 2018. The former Nitto ATP Finals champion struggled with a back injury and also worked with Goran Ivanisevic for two months before rehiring his father Apostolos.
But in his first match of the season, Tsitsipas looked refreshed and purposeful, striking the ball with conviction in his first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with the 22-year-old Mochizuki, the World No. 99.
Tsitsipas, once a Top 10 staple, currently occupies the World No. 36 spot and he has targeted a return to a major final in 2026, having previously reached that stage at Roland Garros in 2021 and the Australian Open in 2023.
Earlier, Sakkari shook off any lingering disappointment from last year’s round-robin exit and powered Greece to a fast start, earning a marquee straight-sets win over four-time Grand Slam champion and world No. 16 Osaka.
Facing Osaka for the first time in nearly five years, the former world No. 3 jumpstarted Greece’s opening tie against Japan with a 6-4, 6-2 victory in 1 hour and 38 minutes at RAC Arena, fueled by quick starts in both sets.
Beware the SakkAttack 💥@mariasakkari gives Team Greece the perfect start in Perth. pic.twitter.com/2O0YqufDOc
— United Cup (@UnitedCupTennis) January 2, 2026
Sakkari struck first in the opener, racing out to a 2-0 lead with a hold and an early break in Osaka’s opening service game. Osaka broke back immediately, but Sakkari reclaimed the advantage and closed out the set, painting the line with a backhand winner to set up a third set point, which she would promptly convert.
“You’re always very hesitant when you come in that first match because sometimes you can trick yourself that you had a good preseason, and then you have high expectations to come out and do everything,” Sakkari said to reporters after the match.
“I really forced myself not to think like that. I think that that was the key. Just went out there, tried to do the things that I worked on and, you know, we keep building and we can keep trying to improve.”
Sakkari struck first in the opener, racing out to a 2-0 lead with a hold and an early break in Osaka’s opening service game. Osaka broke back immediately, but Sakkari reclaimed the advantage and closed out the set, painting the line with a backhand winner to set up a third set point, which she would promptly convert.
“[There were] a lot of backhand winners, but a lot of backhand errors as well,” Sakkari said. “I have to allow myself to miss in order for me to make a lot of winners. It was all about who was going to take the back hand line, let’s be honest. It was all about who was going to get that good cross-court ball in order to get down the line.”
The second set opened with the two trading holds before Sakkari erased two break points for a 2-1 lead. She then managed to break Osaka again to move in front 3-1, and she maintained control from there, sealing her third win in six meetings with Osaka to even their head-to-head and, more importantly, give Greece a 1-0 lead in its tie against Japan.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Heather Watson will miss the Australian Open but says she is on course to return from injury by the end of February.
Some ATP Tour stars will have used the offseason to work on technical aspects of their game, but Taylor Fritz had only a focus on physical recovery ahead of his 2026 season.
“I couldn’t really [target] anything,” Fritz told ATPTour.com in Perth when asked what he had been working on before beginning his season competing for Team USA at the United Cup. “I said at the end of the [Nitto ATP Finals], my goal was really just to try and rehab my knee. I still have pretty serious tendonitis, and that’s something that takes a really long time to get rid of.”
While the injury has been lingering, the No. 6 in the PIF ATP Rankings does not feel it is serious enough to warrant a complete break from competing on Tour.
“The demands of playing make it a lot harder to get rid of it, but at the same time I don’t really want to go full stop for four months to try to get it better when I feel like I can sometimes play through it,” said Fritz. “Sometimes it gets too bad to play through, but that was really the focus of the six weeks, just doing a lot of rehab and strengthening, and trying to lay out a base where I can maybe start to get it better.
“Maybe a couple of months into the season, I can be over it. That was really the main focus. Just hitting to keep my timing, keep my game, keep my feel, but not overdo it on my knee.”
Four Top-10 players lead the way at the United Cup to start the season 🙌
Read all about our season opener 👉 https://t.co/zoc27UiXcr@emirates | #ATPScoutingReport | #partner pic.twitter.com/B55d6JQtk8
— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 2, 2026
While Fritz struggled with his body at times during 2025, he still delivered another rock-solid season as a Top 10 player in the PIF ATP Rankings. The American racked up a 53-23 record, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, a tally which included title runs in Eastbourne and Stuttgart, and he also qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals for the third time.
“I think when I was healthy and playing, my level was really high,” reflected Fritz. “It’s easy for me to look at it and be like, ‘Well I finished No. 4 the year before and finished No. 6 last year’, but I spent probably two months of the season injured. I missed the clay-court season, came back from the injury and wasn’t really playing well. So I feel like I didn’t really get to play healthy, outside of Australia, until the end of the clay season.
“So it felt like my season kind of started on grass. Even after that, towards the end of the year, I had some issues as well I was dealing with. So I think just the level that I was producing when I was feeling good and healthy, it got me to where I finished the year. I think that is the main focus moving forward.”
Fritz has increasingly gained a reputation as one of the Tour’s most astute on-court thinkers, and he has often given open answers about tactics in press conferences. He revealed that, while he devises his game plans for each match in collaboration with his coach Michael Russell and the rest of his team, he also enjoys taking the lead when it comes to talking strategy.
“I would say the stuff that Mike brings to me is more the tendencies of my opponents,” said Fritz. “I could do a better job, I guess, of watching full matches of the people I am playing, but he’ll go through and pick out certain parts and show me what he wants me to look at. I trust him a lot on things like an opponent’s tennis and what they are most likely to do in a big moment. I think that’s a really important thing.
“Then as far as structuring points and playing, it’s more I say what I think and hear their opinions. That’s kind of how it’s always been for me. I like to talk and break things down, and if any of my team disagrees with what I’m saying, I want to hear and want to know why they think that. And maybe why we don’t see it the same way. I feel like a lot of the times, when I give a breakdown of how I should structure a point, stuff like that, why I’m doing the things I’m doing, I feel like they do agree with me.”
[ATP APP]Fritz, who will spearhead Team USA’s bid for a third United Cup crown alongside WTA Tour star Coco Gauff, was also clear-minded when asked about the storylines he would be keeping an eye on during the 2026 ATP Tour season.
“I think the biggest storyline is obviously the Alcaraz-Sinner rivalry, and if there’s going to be anyone who can step up and challenge that,” said the 10-time tour-level titlist. “I think that is the obvious one. Also seeing how a lot of guys progress. Seeing if any of the really young guys take a step all the way up to competing with Carlos and Sinner.
“I think that might be a little bit of a stretch so soon. I could be wrong, but regardless of that, I think there’s a lot of guys that could get there. Maybe not this year, but definitely take some big strides towards it. The guys I’m excited to see keep improving. The two that come to my mind are Joao [Fonseca] and Learner [Tien].”
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Venus Williams, 45, is set to play at the Australian Open for the first time in five years after receiving the final women’s wildcard for the tournament.
World No. 45 Sebastian Baez has given Argentina a 1-0 lead over Spain on Day 1 of the United Cup in Perth.
Competing in his first match at the mixed teams event, the 24-year-old recorded a 6-4, 6-4 win against Jaume Munar in one hour and 43 minutes.
With the victory, Baez secured his first Top 50 win since defeating then-No. 46 Mariano Navone on his way to the title in Rio last February.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Stefanos Tsitsipas is full of renewed vigour as he chases a fresh start in 2026.
The former No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings struggled with a back injury in the second half of the 2025 season and did not compete again after playing two singles rubbers for Greece in the Davis Cup in September. Tsitsipas stepped away to focus on healing and is now feeling rested and refreshed in Perth, where he is preparing to represent Team Greece at the season-opening United Cup.
“I did spend some time recovering. I was absent from the courts for a long time,” reflected Tsitsipas on Thursday at Team Greece’s pre-tournament press conference. “The last three or four tournaments of the season I could barely hold up. So it was important to try and find something that will bring me back again healthy.
“I did all the necessary actions and took all the necessary steps to rehabilitate and get back to what I remember myself being back at. So now so far I think it makes for great feedback, knowing that I’ve done my whole pre-season without any pain, without any discomfort. I’m just hoping that stays this way and I can deliver that starting with United Cup and hopefully for the 2026 season.”
A 12-time tour-level champion, Tsitsipas went 22-16 in 2025, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. The 27-year-old has been trying to rebuild the physical foundation on which his explosive game has always been based.
“The thing that I’m most excited about is trying to see my actual training that I’ve been putting in the last couple of weeks and how it responds in regards also to my back, because my biggest concern has been: can I actually finish a match?” he said. “That was what was going through my mind the past six to eight months. I was constantly thinking, ‘If I win a match, will I be able to come back the next day and play another match without pain?
“I got really scared after my US Open loss with my back, because I just couldn’t walk for two days. When things like that happen, you start reconsidering the future of your career. I’m just hoping 2026 doesn’t bring any of that. I went to actually visit one of the best sports doctors in the world, and he so far is promising to heal me. I’m hoping this stays for 2026. That’s my biggest wish for 2026, is to finish matches and not have to think about any issues regarding my back.”
[ATP APP]Tstisipas’ first opponent of 2026 will be Shintaro Mochizuki. The pair’s maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash will follow a heavyweight WTA meeting between Maria Sakkari and Naomi Osaka as Team Greece and Team Japan face off in Friday’s night session at RAC Arena.
“We’ve played here plenty of times. Perth seems like it’s becoming part of one of the biggest cities of Greece little by little,” said Tsitsipas. “I’m glad that we’re back. It’s a great way to start the season. Couldn’t ask for anything better right now, honestly.
“I’m really hoping each and every one of our teammates is ready and prepared for war. We are going big. We are fighters. We’re Greek, so we’re going to try to make the most out of it.”
Tsitsipas also weighed in on renewing his mixed doubles partnership with Sakkari, herself a former World No. 3 singles player.
“I couldn’t ask for a better partner to play mixed doubles with,” said the Greek ATP Tour star. “I’ve known Maria for a very long time. I feel like our mixed doubles matches have built a lot of trust and confidence in what we’re good at and what we’re not so good at. Obviously there’s a tradeoff. We know our strengths. We know our weaknesses. We try and use that type of information to try and come up with the best doubles strategy and plan whenever we have the chance to play.
“Actually, reflecting on it, we’ve had so many amazing comebacks, but also appearances, including the Olympics. Thinking about it, 15 years ago I would never have pictured myself in a situation like this where I get to be on top of the game that I love the most with the female equivalent from my country.”
[NEWSLETTER FORM]Stefanos Tsitsipas admits he seriously considered retiring from tennis because of serious back pain during the 2025 season.
Rafael Jodar impressed on his Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF in Jeddah last month, and the 19-year-old Spaniard has now announced his decision to turn pro ahead of the 2026 season.
Jodar posted on Instagram on Wednesday announcing he would bring his US college career to a close after representing the University of Virginia Hoosiers across 2024 and 2025. The 19-year-old Jodar went 2-1 in Jeddah in December, when he earned group-stage wins against top seed and eventual champion Learner Tien and Martin Landaluce.
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“After a period of deep reflection, careful consideration and many conversations with my family and coaches, I have decided to forgo my remaining college eligibility at UVA and pursure my professional tennis career as of 2026,” wrote Jodar. “My time in college has played a huge role in my growth both as a player and as a person, and I now feel prepared to take this next step and embrace a new challenge in my life.”
Having also won three ATP Challenger titles in 2025, Jodar will begin life as a pro as the No. 168 in the PIF ATP Rankings. He reached his career high of No. 166 in early November, after lifting the third of his three Challenger crowns in Charlottesville.
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