Roger Federer: Why Comments on Injury-Plagued US Open Bring Up Great Point

Are tennis players soft?

It's a question Roger Federer is asking at the US Open.

The retirements of Marcel Granollers (abdominal muscle strain) and Thomas Berdych (shoulder) this weekend broke the previous Open-era record of 12 players to retire in one tournament, set at Wimbledon in 2008.

Granollers threw in the towel when he was down a set to Juan Carlos Ferrero, while No. 9 seed Berdych called it quits while trailing Janko Tipsarevic, 6-4 5-0.

What's the deal?

Federer, who just turned 30, may be part of an old generation with his comments on the strange epidemic taking place at Flushing Meadows:

"

Could some guys finish the matches?

For me, it is shocking to see so many retirements.

For me, it doesn't matter how bad I'm feeling, I will be out there and giving it a try because you never know what's going to happen.

Look, every player feels different. It's unfortunate it happens for the fans, I guess.

"

Players are falling behind, and instead of gutting through it, they simply say "no mas." It's not good for the sport, and the ATP needs to step in and enforce some sort of rule to curb this trend.

Sure, it wasn't a major, but Serena Williams withdrew from the Western & Southern tournament in Cincinnati last month with a foot injury. The next day she was seen riding a roller coaster at a nearby amusement park and was then dancing at Kim Kardashian's wedding later in the week.

Clearly she could have kept playing, and it's a slap to the face to fans.

It's a tricky line to walk, essentially having to call players fakers or question their toughness. But it's watering down the sport, and tennis fans are getting shortchanged. 

Something needs to be done, and when a player of Federer's stature speaks out about it, the ATP had better pay attention.