Stefanos Tsitsipas has taken a fresh swipe at the extended Masters format on social media by claiming the qualify of tennis played has declined as a result.
The ATP’s extended format has increased the length of Masters events from seven to 12 days. From next year it will be applied to seven out of the nine events in this category with Monte Carlo and Paris being the only exceptions. The ATP argues that having a bigger draw will enable more players to compete at this level which provides them with more opportunities to earn higher prize money, as well as ranking points.
However, Tsitsipas argues that having longer tournaments is hurting players and affecting their performance on the court. Earlier this year, the Greek said the format is ‘playing a massive role‘ in player injuries.
“The two-week Masters 1000s have turned into a drag,” Tsitsipas wrote on social media on Thursday.
“The quality has definitely dropped. Players aren’t getting the recovery or training time they need, with constant matches and no space for the intense work off the court. It’s ironic that the ATP Tour committed to this format without knowing if it could actually improve the schedule, but the quality likewise.
“Paris got it right, done in a week. Exciting and easy to follow. Just how it’s supposed to be. If the goal was to ease the calendar, extending every 1000 to two weeks is a backwards move. Sometimes, it feels like they’re fixing what wasn’tbroken.”
The world No.12 spoke about the topic in response to comments made by former world No.1 Andy Roddick who has branded two-week Masters events as ‘stupid’ on his podcast.
“The two-week 1000’s are so stupid. They’re so stupid, they’re so dumb, it’s the worst,” said Roddick.
“I hate it, I feel like more people got injured because you can’t do the work on off-weeks to build your body up physically. If you’re playing every other day you can’t go and do the intense work.
“The players are saying this. The feedback has been s**t. Maybe you (the ATP) shouldn’t have committed the calendar to the long term vision of something that has not been proven.”
Despite the concerns raised by players on the Tour, it is unlikely that these events will revert back to their original one-week format in the near future.
