Shorter tennis season means more time for exhibitions

• The shortened regular season gives players more flexibility to collect big paychecks in exhibitions
• Is it two-faced, seeing as players complained about the grueling schedule?
• Exos deliver tennis to markets with no regular tournament, and they can serve as building blocks

Janko Tipsarevic is pooped.

Like almost every player at the season-ending World Tour Finals, the 28-year-old Serb complained of mental and physical fatigue, which in his case was compounded by a recent virus.

"I played way better last year," said the ninth-ranked Tipsarevic, who won one set while going 0-3 in round-robin play. "I played less events. I wasn't as maybe mentally burned out as I am right now."

But Tipsarevic won't be putting his feet up for long.

In less than two weeks, he will jet to Singapore to partake in an exhibition dubbed "The Clash of Continents" offering $520,000 in prize money with Japan's Kei Nishikori, Argentina's Juan Monaco and the USA's Sam Querrey -- plus a "special match involving glamour girls Daniela Hantuchova and Peng Shuai," according to the event's marketing material.

In 2012, this is no anomaly.

Check the exhibition calendar, and many top pros are using the newfound flexibility afforded by longer offseasons to barnstorm across the globe for big paychecks -- even though pains taken to shorten the calendar were, at least in name, to protect long-term health.

The day after his triumph at the ATP Tour's finale in London, Novak Djokovic took part in an exhibition in Slovakia and is traveling to Rio de Janeiro to play against former No. 1 Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil. They play Saturday.

Maria Sharapova showed up for an exhibition in Prague less than 24 hours after her runner-up finish at the WTA Championships in Istanbul and will tee up her game in exhibitions next month in Italy and Brazil. The Williams sisters recently faced off in Nigeria and South Africa.

Perhaps the busiest of all is Roger Federer, who is competing in six sold-out exos between Dec. 6-15 in Brazil, Argentina and Colombia, a tour largely backed by one of his sponsors, Gillette.

"That's the beauty of an offseason," said Federer after losing to Djokovic on Monday night in London, "you're allowed to do whatever the hell you want."

With payouts often exceeding regular tour stops in prize money, exhibitions are a lucrative no-brainer, especially in a sport where athletes are individual contractors without guaranteed salaries.

For global stars such as Russia's Sharapova and Switzerland's Federer, a one-night gig can mean six figures -- or more.

Federer will pocket a gaudy $2 million per session in South America, according to people with knowledge of the payout who spoke on condition of anonymity.

If some see tennis players wisely making the most of their commercial opportunities, others wonder whether big payouts from exotic offseason events weaken constant player complaints about year-end weariness.

"It can come off as being two-faced," ESPN commentator Pam Shriver says.

Top-ranked doubles duo Mike and Bob Bryan, who as usual have a number of offseason gigs lined up from Shreveport, La., to Sao Paulo, Brazil, discount that thinking.

"It's a good way to fill up with some extra cash," says lefty Bob. "But it's nothing like the physical and mental strain of playing a tournament."

The relaxed atmosphere and guaranteed money is more like being "a rock star band," Mike adds.

"I understand why it could put the player in a bad light in the public's view, however in my view it does not put them in a bad light at all," says Andy Murray's coach Ivan Lendl. "It's good practice close to tournament conditions without using your mental energies."

In recent years, the WTA and ATP have worked tirelessly to shorten their seasons.

The men are finishing two weeks earlier this year, and the women reduced their calendar as part of their so-called "roadmap" plan by the same amount in 2009.

Tour officials are aware that the sudden uptick of pay-for-play affairs could appear to undermine efforts to create more downtime for players to recuperate.

They don't sound alarmed.

"I'm very much in favor of the guys choosing to lie on the beach for two weeks … and if they want to play exos, fine," ATP chief Brad Drewett said in an interview Monday. "It's their time. They're professionals. They can make their own choice about their own body, if they're tired, not tired, what they can do."

WTA CEO Stacey Allaster noted that exos always have been permitted.

"While there are some new exhibition events this coming year, we do not have an indication that the overall number of exhibitions is substantially on the rise," she said in a statement provided by the WTA. "The good news for both players and tournaments is that since the introduction of our roadmap in 2009, the number of injuries and withdrawals is down and top players are playing the WTA's top events more than ever."

Still, there are dangers: confusion in the marketplace, and players skipping regular tour events that might need a marquee name.

Exhibitions can serve a purpose. They offer a way to spread the gospel of tennis to cities with no WTA or ATP presence, and they can serve as building blocks for future tournament sites.

That was the case for the current ATP stop in Kuala Lumpur, where Federer played in an exhibition with Pete Sampras in 2007, according to Federer's agent Tony Godsick.

"Usually what happens is it's an exhibitions first, and if those prove successful and are supported by the cities, official tournaments tend to follow," Godsick says.

Baltimore native Shriver says her longstanding charity event in her hometown was the only way locals could see world-class players.

"That was the tennis they got, or they got nothing," she says.

They can be also be valuable to sponsors eager to penetrate new markets.

Cliff Drysdale, who served as the first president of the ATP when it was formed in 1972, says today's exos are nothing like the early days of professional tennis when players would skip tour stops in lieu of fat paychecks offered by mercenary organizers.

"There is no one that is going to go play in Singapore or wherever and not go play in Miami or Indian Wells," says Drysdale, who comments for ESPN.

Second-ranked Federer places the onus on players to balance their need for rest against the growing flexibility for economic windfall.

He said Monday that he will take a two-week holiday before his South American tour, and will pare back his schedule by skipping an exhibition in Abu Dhabi and an ATP event in Doha he usually plays in January.

"Basically I've given myself enough space," he said. "It's about just making sure you manage your schedule correctly."

It's hard to argue with the 17-time major winner.

At 31, he remains near the top of the sport and is a model of durability, having entered 52 consecutive majors, four shy of the record. He has never retired in a professional match.

Still, there are risks.

Four-time major winner Sharapova, for example, reportedly twisted her ankle in her exo last month in Prague. An injury or illness can delay offseason preparations and crisscrossing continents and time zones can add wear-and-tear to already weary bodies.

Tipsarevic seemed conscious of the potential consequences after notching a career-high 85 matches this year, third-most on the ATP Tour.

"I'm just going to try and focus on my pre-season for next year because I realize that if you play too many exhibitions, even though I'm in a position to do that as top 10, on the long term it's not going to benefit you, especially a guy like me," he said. "I'm not old, but I'm not young."