"Now there’s nothing like that": Andy Murray weighs in on debate about two-week format for Masters events

Former world number one Andy Murray has criticised the two-week schedule for the Masters event. There has been discussions within the tennis community about the newer format of the Masters event which last two weeks.

Recently, many current players have expressed dissatisfaction with the two-week schedule of the competition. The recent addition to that is former world number one Murray. The 37-year-old, who is widely regarded as the greatest British player in the history of men’s tennis in the Open era, having won as many as three Grand Slam titles, was of the opinion that, purely in terms of the schedule, the previous edition was better.

“Sometimes, before, if you played in Rome and Madrid and you were seeded, you had a bye in those events,” he said while talking to Tennis Majors. “And so you could play your first match on Wednesday, so you could arrive on, let’s say the Saturday of Madrid, know that you would have four days of practice and within 16 days, you’ve finished two events, whereas now there’s nothing like that. So it’s changed, I think, in that respect, and I think the other way was much better. The one-week events were really good. You had great quality matches every single day; you knew exactly who was going to be playing when.”

Murray, who retired from professional tennis last year after taking part in the Davis Cup, is now working with another former world number one and Serbia’s legendary tennis star, Novak Djokovic, as his coach. Their partnership is going through a rough patch as the 37-year-old has failed to win any titles this year. Djokovic’s most recent appearance was at the ongoing Madrid Open, where he was knocked out after losing in the second round to Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 6-4.