Melbourne: Having played a tour-high 97 matches last year, Novak Djokovic might seem an unlikely advocate for players' health, but the super-fit Serbian reiterated calls for a shorter tennis season yesterday.
Djokovic, whose Australian Open defence last year ended abruptly in the quarterfinals after he retired with heat exhaustion, said that top players were agitating for a longer break between seasons to preserve their bodies and careers.
"We are trying to fight for the players rights and I think it is very important that people understand how we feel," the world number three said.
"Listening to the top players, you get the fair point... [The season] is just too long. And definitely, having five weeks, four weeks... before the start of the new season is so, so little.
"We have to have at least two months and that's the minimum, I mean, considering the season that we are playing and the amount of matches and the level we are playing."
Players have been at loggerheads with tour officials for several years over the length of the season, with sponsors and promoters battling to keep their tournament dates in the crowded tennis calendar.
Djokovic plays his first competitive match of 2010 at the Kooyong Classic in Melbourne today, an invitational tournament seen as a reliable form guide for the Australian Open which starts next week.
The 22-year-old, elected to the ATP Players Council in 2008, said player representatives would meet officials in Australia for talks.
