On the heels of the Paris Masters, Andy and @jon_wertheim discuss mounting concerns for Andrey Rublev and potential protections that can be put in place by the ATP youtu.be/jzwQc2WZJE4?si…
ATP’s expanded Masters 1000 calendar draws criticism from Andy Roddick: “It’s the worst thing”
ATPWednesday, 06 November 2024 at 20:30
Andy
Roddick criticized the ATP over the scheduling of the Masters 1000 events. The
former World No. 1 is not at all pleased with the decision to extend the
duration of these tournaments to two weeks."
According
to the 2003 US Open champion, extending tournaments only works against players,
who seem to have less and less rest time in an annual calendar that practically
lasts 11 months. In recent months, criticisms have come from players such as
Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Grigor Dimitrov.
"Maybe the calendar shouldn’t have been so busy"
Both the
ATP and WTA have opted to increase the draws for some tournaments. In 2023, the
Madrid Open and Rome Open expanded their main draws from 64 to 96 players,
extending these tournaments to two weeks with rest days in between rounds in
the early stages.
For several
years, the Indian Wells and Miami Opens have lasted two weeks as part of the
traditional Sunshine Double. In 2025, the Cincinnati Open, Canadian Open, and
Shanghai Masters will join, bringing the total to seven out of nine Masters
tournaments lasting two weeks. Only the Monte-Carlo and Paris Masters remain
one-week events.
A player
competing in all nine Masters 1000 events and the four Grand Slams in a season
could be spending a total of 26 weeks in these competitions. This does not
include ATP 500 tournaments (six required for top-10 players) or country-based
competitions like the Davis Cup or potential ATP Finals.
The 2003 US
Open champion was strongly critical of the ATP leadership's decision,
commenting on his podcast Served with Roddick: "I can honestly say
that the two weeks of the ATP Masters 1000 are so stupid. It’s the worst
thing,” he said. “I hate it. There’s a feeling that more players have gotten
injured because you can’t work in your off weeks to get stronger physically."
"If
you play every other day you can’t go and do intense work. The players say
that. Maybe the calendar shouldn’t have been so busy. Paris-Bercy was great:
one week. It’s great. All you have to do is open up the calendar and what do we
do? We do the Masters 1000 over two weeks. Oh, that will help the
calendar!"
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