Jannik Sinner disagrees with Carlos Alcaraz's latest calendar criticism

Friday, 03 October 2025 at 19:50

byErik Virostko

Jannik Sinner disagreed with the comments made by some of his colleagues about the current tennis calendar.

Over the past 24 months, many tennis players have spoken out against the length of the current calendar, but as Novak Djokovic said in Shanghai, few have taken any actionable steps to address the issue.

Over the past week, Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek, and Carlos Alcaraz all commented on how challenging the current schedule is. Swiatek seemingly started the debate this week, with Gauff and Alcaraz then asked about the Pole's comments.

When speaking at the Japan Open in Tokyo, Alcaraz explained that he might start skipping mandatory tournaments in the future, as he thinks that the current calendar is too demanding for both the physical and mental side of an athlete.

"I think that the schedule is really tight. They have to do something with the schedule. I think there are too many mandatory tournaments, too many in a row. They put in some rules that we have to play Master 1000s, 500 tournaments, whatever it is."

"But there are too many rules that we as tennis players are not allowed to have a choice if we have to play or not. To be honest, I have to consider in the future if I have to skip some mandatory tournaments just to maintain my physical condition and good shape. Obviously it's more than the physical condition."

"I think mentally it's really demanding as well, playing so many mandatory tournaments in a row or playing so many tournaments without having days to rest up mentally. I will consider skipping some mandatory tournaments to the benefit of myself mentally. I agree with Iga and I think a lot of players are gonna do that."

Sinner was asked about those comments at the Shanghai Masters, where he is the top seed because of Alcaraz's absence. The Italian player took a different approach than his colleagues.

The ATP world No. 2 player didn't want to criticize the current schedule and the ATP, which is led by his compatriot Andrea Gaudenzi. Instead, Sinner stated that every player can design a schedule in a way that will make them happy, as he has done over the past 24 months.

"I don't want to criticize anything. For me, everyone thinks in different ways. We can still, as I always say, we can still choose, you know, as players, you just have to understand what the priority is for ourselves."

"I always made choices, even last year, you know, sometimes jumping some tournaments. The schedule is what it is. If you want to play a tournament, you have to play tournament. If not, you make another choice to rest or practice, you know, that's it. So, yeah, it is what it is."

Sinner might not be complaining about the schedule at the moment, but he made his own schedule incredibly busy at the end of this season. After playing at the China Open in Beijing, he currently competes at the Shanghai Masters and will move to the Six Kings Slam in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

After that, he is scheduled to play at the Vienna Open, the Paris Masters, the ATP Finals, and the Davis Cup Finals. It would be a crazy feat if he plays all seven events within two months, but it seems impossible.