“Shut Up and Serve”: The Professional Tennis Players Fighting a Rigged System
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“Shut Up and Serve”: The Professional Tennis Players Fighting a Rigged System
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StudentNation
/ February 10, 2026
“Shut Up and Serve”: The Professional Tennis Players Fighting a Rigged System
An antitrust lawsuit calls the professional tennis governing bodies “cartels” that exploit players and create an intentional lack of competitive alternatives. Can players hit back?
Takashi Williams
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Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open tennis tournament on February 1, 2026.
(Izhar Khan / Getty)
This story was produced for StudentNation, a program of the Nation Fund for Independent Journalism, which is dedicated to highlighting the best of student journalism. For more StudentNation, check out our archive or learn more about the program here. StudentNation is made possible through generous funding from The Puffin Foundation. If you’re a student and you have an article idea, please send pitches and questions to [email protected].
Holger Rune is one of the most promising young talents that tennis has ever seen. Known for his blistering forehand and fiery on-court personality, the 22-year-old has already made history as the highest-ranked Danish man to play the sport, with a career-high ranking of fourth in the world. Then, during the Stockholm Open semifinals in October, Rune ruptured his Achilles tendon.
Even a sprained ankle, sustained from an awkward landing or a collision, can lead spectators to cringe and cover their eyes. Accidents happen, but Rune’s horrific injury was part of a pattern of overuse that has taken some of the sport’s brightest and youngest stars away from the court. At Grand Slam and Masters events this past season, players saw the largest rate of injury withdrawals or walkovers in over two decades.
Ben Shelton, a top-10 player in the world, was sidelined for more than a month because of a left-shoulder injury, cutting short his highly anticipated 2025 US Open. A stress fracture in his back led 21-year-old Arthur Fils to miss an entire rotation of Grand Slam events. And after bowing out of last year’s US Open, 24-year-old Jack Draper, the number one player in Great Britain, has been away from the sport for over seven months due to a lingering left-arm injury.
In October, players posted on social media in support of Rune, while pointing the finger at the apparent cause for the uptick in injuries: the grueling, 45-week-long schedule. “Injuries are going to happen.… we are pushing our bodies to do things they aren’t supposed to in elite sport,” Draper posted on X. “However, the tour and the calendar have to adapt if any of us are gonna achieve some sort of longevity.”
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) season is …
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“Shut Up and Serve”: The Professional Tennis Players Fighting a Rigged System
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StudentNation
/ February 10, 2026
“Shut Up and Serve”: The Professional Tennis Players Fighting a Rigged System
An antitrust lawsuit calls the professional tennis governing bodies “cartels” that exploit players and create an intentional lack of competitive alternatives. Can players hit back?
Takashi Williams
Share
Copy Link
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Ad Policy
Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open tennis tournament on February 1, 2026.
(Izhar Khan / Getty)
This story was produced for StudentNation, a program of the Nation Fund for Independent Journalism, which is dedicated to highlighting the best of student journalism. For more StudentNation, check out our archive or learn more about the program here. StudentNation is made possible through generous funding from The Puffin Foundation. If you’re a student and you have an article idea, please send pitches and questions to [email protected].
Holger Rune is one of the most promising young talents that tennis has ever seen. Known for his blistering forehand and fiery on-court personality, the 22-year-old has already made history as the highest-ranked Danish man to play the sport, with a career-high ranking of fourth in the world. Then, during the Stockholm Open semifinals in October, Rune ruptured his Achilles tendon.
Even a sprained ankle, sustained from an awkward landing or a collision, can lead spectators to cringe and cover their eyes. Accidents happen, but Rune’s horrific injury was part of a pattern of overuse that has taken some of the sport’s brightest and youngest stars away from the court. At Grand Slam and Masters events this past season, players saw the largest rate of injury withdrawals or walkovers in over two decades.
Ben Shelton, a top-10 player in the world, was sidelined for more than a month because of a left-shoulder injury, cutting short his highly anticipated 2025 US Open. A stress fracture in his back led 21-year-old Arthur Fils to miss an entire rotation of Grand Slam events. And after bowing out of last year’s US Open, 24-year-old Jack Draper, the number one player in Great Britain, has been away from the sport for over seven months due to a lingering left-arm injury.
In October, players posted on social media in support of Rune, while pointing the finger at the apparent cause for the uptick in injuries: the grueling, 45-week-long schedule. “Injuries are going to happen.… we are pushing our bodies to do things they aren’t supposed to in elite sport,” Draper posted on X. “However, the tour and the calendar have to adapt if any of us are gonna achieve some sort of longevity.”
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) season is …
“Shut Up and Serve”: The Professional Tennis Players Fighting a Rigged System
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“Shut Up and Serve”: The Professional Tennis Players Fighting a Rigged System
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Current Issue
Society
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StudentNation
/ February 10, 2026
“Shut Up and Serve”: The Professional Tennis Players Fighting a Rigged System
An antitrust lawsuit calls the professional tennis governing bodies “cartels” that exploit players and create an intentional lack of competitive alternatives. Can players hit back?
Takashi Williams
Share
Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Email
Ad Policy
Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open tennis tournament on February 1, 2026.
(Izhar Khan / Getty)
This story was produced for StudentNation, a program of the Nation Fund for Independent Journalism, which is dedicated to highlighting the best of student journalism. For more StudentNation, check out our archive or learn more about the program here. StudentNation is made possible through generous funding from The Puffin Foundation. If you’re a student and you have an article idea, please send pitches and questions to [email protected].
Holger Rune is one of the most promising young talents that tennis has ever seen. Known for his blistering forehand and fiery on-court personality, the 22-year-old has already made history as the highest-ranked Danish man to play the sport, with a career-high ranking of fourth in the world. Then, during the Stockholm Open semifinals in October, Rune ruptured his Achilles tendon.
Even a sprained ankle, sustained from an awkward landing or a collision, can lead spectators to cringe and cover their eyes. Accidents happen, but Rune’s horrific injury was part of a pattern of overuse that has taken some of the sport’s brightest and youngest stars away from the court. At Grand Slam and Masters events this past season, players saw the largest rate of injury withdrawals or walkovers in over two decades.
Ben Shelton, a top-10 player in the world, was sidelined for more than a month because of a left-shoulder injury, cutting short his highly anticipated 2025 US Open. A stress fracture in his back led 21-year-old Arthur Fils to miss an entire rotation of Grand Slam events. And after bowing out of last year’s US Open, 24-year-old Jack Draper, the number one player in Great Britain, has been away from the sport for over seven months due to a lingering left-arm injury.
In October, players posted on social media in support of Rune, while pointing the finger at the apparent cause for the uptick in injuries: the grueling, 45-week-long schedule. “Injuries are going to happen.… we are pushing our bodies to do things they aren’t supposed to in elite sport,” Draper posted on X. “However, the tour and the calendar have to adapt if any of us are gonna achieve some sort of longevity.”
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) season is …
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