The madness of tennis: 4 players compete in two countries in less than 24 hours
They say that to be a professional tennis player you have to be a bit crazy, but what is certain is that it is necessary to deeply love this sport and be willing to make unimaginable sacrifices compared to other sports. Can you imagine competing on a Friday in one country and having to take a flight quickly to play a match on Saturday in another country? Well, that is what four tennis players have done this week.
It is not an unprecedented situation, but it is curious to see that it has happened in four cases and that, especially in two of them, the distance to be traveled by plane is enormous. Because while it is true that what Corentin Moutet did, losing in Lyon and rushing to Vienna for the qualifying round, and Daniel Altmaier, rushing from Lyon to Basel, are striking, nothing compares to what Adrian Mannarino and James Duckworth are facing.
In fact, both Moutet and Altmaier were able to travel by car or train from the French city to Vienna and Basel, respectively, making for a comfortable and affordable trip, even for players who finished their matches in the afternoon and will compete in less than 24 hours in another country. However, the astonishing part is traveling from Almaty (Kazakhstan).
🪫✈️ Not even a day off for these players, who competed in one tournament yesterday and are already playing in another today: Mannarino (Almaty → Vienna) Moutet (Lyon → Vienna) Altmaier (Lyon → Basel) Duckworth (Almaty → Basel) Lyon to Vienna or Basel is manageable, but travelling all the way from Almaty, potentially spending 15+ hours in transit, and competing the very next day? Brutal
— Tennis Masterr (@tennismasterr) October 24, 2026
Traveling from Almaty to Vienna or Basel involves more than 9 hours by plane
That is what Mannarino and Duckworth had to do, as after losing to Basilashvili and Tsitsipas, respectively, they had to take a rushed flight to Vienna and Basel, respectively. The incredible part is that the duration of this flight is between 9 and 10 hours, so both will arrive at the qualifying rounds of their respective tournaments with barely enough time to rest.
Few sports are as demanding in terms of physical, mental, and logistical requirements as tennis, with situations like those of Mannarino and Duckworth being completely unthinkable for other athletes. It will be interesting to see what they are capable of in their matches this Saturday, against Tirante and Kovacevic.
This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, La locura del tenis: 4 tenistas juegan en dos países en menos de 24 horas