“We’re not robots”: Jack Draper joins Alcaraz & Swiatek in criticizing two weeks Masters

Jack Draper is another player who is not happy with the two-week Masters 1000 events, joining previous criticisms from players like Carlos Alcaraz, Iga Swiatek, and Stefanos Tsitsipas. The British No. 1 believes that the extended format is partly responsible for some inconsistent results due to the heavy demands it places on players.

Seven of the nine Masters 1000 tournaments held this year are played over 12 days, with only the Monte-Carlo Masters and Paris-Bercy being exceptions. The singles draws have 96 players, with a bye for the top 32 seeds, who begin their journey in the second round.

Until a few years ago, the only Masters events that lasted more than a week were the Indian Wells and Miami Open, while the rest of the Masters lasted one week and had singles draws of 56 players.

"I think the way the tour is at the moment and these two-week events and less weeks to be at home, less weeks to train, it just seems like you’re on a constant rabbit wheel, and there’s no way off it," said the 2025 Indian Wells champion Jack Draper. "I think that’s scary to think about as a player. You know, to think that, look, I know we’re earning good money, and we’re playing in front of great crowds, and something I love to do, but it’s mentally very, very taxing."

Precisely the week following Indian Wells, all the semifinalists of the tournament were eliminated in their debut at Miami Open, including Draper, Holger Rune, Daniil Medvedev, and Holger Rune. "[It’s] something that I hope that potentially the ATP and the tours come together at some point and, I don’t know, clean it up a little bit, I suppose, to make it so that there is a bit more space to train and to work on our bodies.

"I think for me, the big thing is, I think the quality can suffer a little bit. I think there’s a lot of top players who are in and out with their performances, and it’s just purely because it’s just overplaying.

"People look on TV and they think, ‘Oh, that was a bad performance’ and stuff. It is mentally difficult every day to show up and to give it a hundred percent. And, you know, we have lives as well, there’s things going on off the court all the time. We’re not robots."

"I think it is a scary proposition what’s ahead, you know, the fact that it is a long career. But then again, you know, I don’t have to play until I’m 35, I can do everything and get the best out of myself, and I’ll stop when I feel like I’m ready."