“I will feel sad to lose 250’s” - Marin Cilic pleads for ATP not to overlook 250 events as he questions tennis future

The future of tennis is going to look very different to the current one as the organisers continue to toggle with the tournaments, implementing new tournaments while changing other events. One of the things they ate pushing for is less 250 tournaments, something that Marin Cilic is not a fan of.

There are a huge variety of categories for players to pick from when competing at tournaments. While the big prizes are offered at the Grand Slams and Masters 1000 events, the 250 tournaments also offer a great place for players to compete for titles and go on deep runs where the chances of facing the best players in the world are a lot slimmer with them mostly going for the bigger competitions.

They span all across the tennis season and around the world on a range of surfaces. This week alone has seen the Open Occitanie be competed in Montpellier on the ATP Tour, and a brace of WTA 250 events in the form of the Transylvania Open and the Ostrava Open. The Golden swing is set to commence in Buenos Aires with the Argentina Open the next 250 event on some of the ATP players' minds.

“I will feel sad to lose 250’s,” Cilic stated in an interview with Clay. “I’m a traditional guy, I love the small tournaments. When I started my career I went from Satellites, Futures, then to Challengers, and then 250’s. Everything has its own piece of flair."

Cilic has won 21 titles in his long career, which includes his 2014 US Open success. Out of the 37 finals achieved, 27 of these came in 250 competitions with the Croation coming out on top in 17 of them. These impressive numbers reflect not only his tennis ability but his passion for these smaller events, as he capitalises on the opportunity to add more titles to his CV.

As tennis continues to grow, the aim is for more bigger tournaments to take over, with the 250 tournaments suddenly under threat and becoming more and more overlooked. “The goal is to continue reducing the number of 250 tournaments,” said the ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi.

New tournaments being introduced such as the Saudi Masters also indicates a move towards bigger events being the main focus over these smaller ones. With it possibly being logged in February when it officially gets underway in 2028, this could be detrimental to the golden swing in South and Latin America, along with indoor hardcourt tournaments currently taking place in Europe such as Montpellier and Rotterdam.

The route for younger tennis players into the upper echelons of the sport will be different compared to what Cilic embraced, with the 37-year-old questioning the direction of the ATP Tour. “When you reach the top having come through the smaller events, you appreciate it more,” he continued. “It’s a big question, a big debate, a huge decision about where the tour is going… we’ll see what they say."

The next task at hand for the former world number three is a trip over to the United States to compete in the Dallas Open. The likes of Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul will lead the field as they strive towards the ATP 500 title. Cilic has a very tough opening task, with the exciting prospect that is Learner Tien standing in his way of progressing into the next round.