With the Australian Open beginning Jan. 15, ESPN.com's Peter Bodo wrote instead of a "replenished and reinvigorated field of eager stars chafing to challenge for the major titles, tennis is already on the verge of losing some of its biggest names before the first major of the season even begins." The situation will "certainly launch the annual debate usually reserved for October, about the lack of a proper off-season in tennis." The long tennis year (11 months for the WTA, 10 for the ATP) is "frequently blamed for the seemingly irreversible rise in the injury rate" (ESPN.com, 1/3).
NEED EVEN MORE BREAKS? In DC, Todd Dybas writes under the header, "Players Aren't Feeling Much Of A Difference From Spread Out NBA Schedule." Players are "thankful that they no longer play four games in five nights." But the change in the schedule has "created other quirks that makes the 82-game grind not seem all that different from recent years." Wizards F Markieff Morris said, "Four in five nights. That’s the only thing that’s changed. You still get three in four nights" (WASHINGTON TIMES, 1/5).
HAVE TO EARN IT: ESPN.com noted the '18 MLS season will feature a "shortened break during the World Cup" after the USMNT "failed to qualify for the tournament in Russia." A nine-day hiatus will "start on the same day as the World Cup opener, June 14, and last through June 22 -- four days fewer than the break taken" in '14, when there were "no MLS games between June 12-24." MLS will "resume play while the World Cup is still in the group stage" (ESPN.com, 1/4).
