Frances Tiafoe Angrily Criticizes 'Garbage' Schedule For 2025 Canadian Open

Sunday, 27 July 2025 at 15:12

byJordan Reynolds

Frances Tiafoe can be added to the list of players who disapprove of the 2025 Canadian Open being expanded. He also dislikes the day chosen for the final.

This year's iterations of the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Open will be 12 days long for the first time. Previously, they were only seven days each, allowing an extra week on the calendar for other tournaments or for players to prepare for the event in Canada.

ATP organizers, in particular, might regret expanding the Canadian Open after a large number of withdrawals. Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, and Novak Djokovic were the most high-profile of these.

In total, 15 ATP players withdrew from the men's singles, which will be held in Toronto. Matteo Berrettini and Grigor Dimitrov were among the most notable names outside of Alcaraz, Sinner, and Djokovic to remove themselves from the entry list.

Taylor Fritz, a frequent critic of the length of the tennis calendar, gave his strongest rebuke yet in a press conference at the 2025 Citi Open, arguing that it is insane how much tennis is played without any consideration of shortening the schedule.

Speaking at the same tournament, Tiafoe expressed disdain for the final in Toronto being held on Thursday instead of the usual Sunday, but acknowledged the extended events in Canada and Cincinnati are easier for him to cope with as an American.

“It is what it is. I like that it’s a bit shorter than Madrid, Rome. Weird because the final is on a Thursday. That’s garbage. But yeah, I mean, I guess I’m ready to get going and see how that goes. The 10-day events are tough, but I think it will be easier since I’m so close to the States. Something goes wrong, I’m a quick flight home."

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“It’s not like when I’m stuck in Europe and playing on red clay and people speaking different languages and s—. It’s better to kind of be in the States, so for sure, I’m really happy. Hopefully, put up some good results going into the Open. That’s kind of what matters."

The number of withdrawals means the Canadian Open is an ideal opportunity for someone to win a maiden Masters 1000 tournament. Tiafoe is among the players who have not won an event at that level.

Alexei Popyrin achieved that at last year's iteration with a stunning run to his first 1000-level title. The Australian's achievement, sealed by defeating Andrey Rublev in the final, was among the most unexpected moments of the 2024 season.

Alexander Zverev is set to be the No. 1 seed in Toronto because of Sinner and Alcaraz's withdrawals. After recently being pictured with the latter at the Rafa Nadal Academy, there has been speculation about him working with Rafael Nadal and Toni Nadal.

Stefanos Tsitsipas will also be an interesting player to observe in Toronto. He split with Goran Ivanisevic a few days ago and re-hired his father despite the pair's high-profile split almost a year ago, when Tsitsipas publicly criticized him.