How many 1000 events should last two weeks? Querrey and Vandeweghe strongly favour return to one-week tournaments: "I’d prefer zero two-week events"

Scheduling and the number of matches being played has been a topic talked a lot by tennis players and fans alike in recent years. With the extension of many of the Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 tournament to 12 days, there is a lot of frustration with too many matches being played, creating more issues. On the Tennis Channel, Sam Querrey and Coco Vandeweghe firmly shared their displeasure as they pleaded for one-week 1000 events to return.

That was the case with most tournaments. Aside from Indian Wells and Miami Open, all the competitions were just one week long. In 2023, the tournaments in Rome, Madrid and Shanghai were extended to 96 players with the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open having the same fate in 2025.

For the women, there is still a number of them which have been yet to alter from a single week of action - those being the Qatar, Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, China Open and Wuhan Open. The only Masters 1000 events that spans for a week is the Monte-Carlo Masters and Paris Masters.

Vandeweghe was very much opposed to having two-week 1000 events, aside from the traditional two." I think it should only be two—Indian Wells and Miami," he said. "Those should be the only ones. If you’re going to add another, maybe do it in Asia at the end of the year."

Her main argument for this was that there was too much tennis being played before Grand Slam tournaments. On clay, Madrid and Rome lead straight to Paris while there is barely any room to breathe between Wimbledon and the US Open thanks to the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open.

"It’s just too much tennis going into a Slam," she added. "You’re going to have a lot of pullouts. And we’re not even seeing the seeds until Thursday at this point because of the byes. I don’t like it at all." These withdrawals were fully evident last year. The Canadian Open saw Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic and Jack Draper among others not bother to show up.

Querrey was in full agreement with his counterpart. But it is not just for the matches being played. "These two-week Masters have been a discussion for a year now. It’s not that players are playing more matches—it’s the monotony," he explained.

"You go to the site every day, practice, hang around, and suddenly you’ve been there for 12 days. Then you go to Rome and do the same thing. You’re trying to prepare for Roland Garros, and it feels like you’ve had a full month of these extended events that just drain your energy."

An ideal world for Querrey sees no two-week 1000 events. "I’d prefer zero two-week events. Even Indian Wells and Miami—though I love them."

Vandeweghe interrupted his argument as she praised the Sunshine swing. "Somehow they figure out the structure it so it doesn’t feel like Groundhog Day. By Thursday of the first week, you’re already thinking, 'This is tough just to be here as a player.'"

The former Wimbledon semi-finalist was hopeful that change was in the pipeline, but a date for that was up in the air. "I think eventually there will be enough frustration from players and fans that pressure will force change," he suggested. "Maybe soon, maybe in 50 years—but I hope within three to five years."

It is not just the players relieving the negative effects from this. Empty stands have become more common as fans wait for the seeds to enter the fray. "I hope so too. It would be sad to see tennis hurt by these two-week events," Vandeweghe said. "I think if this continues, you’ll see matches with barely anyone in the stands early in the tournament because fans can just wait until the second week to watch seeded players."

The presenter, Steve Weissman, suggested a possible comparison. "Maybe. You could have one of Madrid or Rome as a two-week event, and one of Canada or Cincinnati." Vandeweghe was still not satisfied with this, but Querrey leapt to the idea just to see a short-term change in the scheduling. "I’d take that compromise for now."