‘Quality Has Definitely Dropped’: Stefanos Tsitsipas On Longer Format Of Masters 1000 Events
Last Updated:
Voicing his concern, Stefanos Tsitsipas suggested that the quality of the events is declining.
Greek tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas (AP)
Stefanos Tsitsipas has severely criticised the long format of Masters 1000 events. Tsitsipas believes the decision to extend these events from one week to two is having a detrimental effect on the players and the tournament. Voicing his concern, the Greek tennis star suggested that the quality of the events is declining. “The two-week Masters 1000s have turned into a drag. 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,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Stefanos Tsitsipas said that he did not expect the ATP Tour organisers to commit to this format without understanding if it would serve as an improvement in the schedule. “It’s ironic that theATP Tour committed to this format without knowing if it could actually improve the schedule, but the quality likewise,” he wrote. He claimed the Paris Tour was far better as everything was wrapped up within a week. “Paris got it right, done in a week. Exciting and easy to follow. Just how it’s supposed to be,” Tsitsipas said.
In the last bit of his post, Stefanos Tsitsipas claimed that the ATP Tour’s attempt at easing the playing calendar ended up being a step in the opposite direction. “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’t broken,” the Greek tennis player added in his post.
Stefanos Tsitsipas is not the only tennis player who has expressed his concern over the two-week schedule for the ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 events. Former American tennis star Andy Roddick also lashed out at the new format. On a recent episode of the Served with Andy Roddick podcast, he said, as per SportsKeeda, “The two-week 1000’s are so stupid. They’re so stupid, they’re so dumb. It’s the worst, 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.”
This year five out of the nine Masters events were played across two weeks. There were plans to expand the playing fields next year in Toronto and Cincinnati.
