Stefanos Tsitsipas is one of the players not afraid to speak his mind, and he recently talked about the extended ATP Masters 1000 format.
In 2024, the vast majority of the ATP and WTA 1000 tournaments were played across two weeks instead of the classic one-week format. The format is now similar to Grand Slams, but there is one difference, majors are played with 128 players, and for men, in the best-of-five format.
That isn't the case at the ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, and many tennis players have come out against the format, saying that with these two-week events, they now don't have time to rest and train properly.
While a casual fan might think that having to play the same amount of matches over a longer period would be beneficial for the players, the players themselves disagree with this.
Many tried explaining that having a proper rest or a proper training block is completely different from competing in a tournament and having one day in between the match, which isn't sufficient to rest or have some proper training, as they use that time mostly to recover.
Current players aren't the only ones to complain. Andy Roddick, who follows all the latest developments, talked about this issue on his Served with Andy Roddick podcast recently, slamming the new format.
"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. The feedback has been s**t."
"All we’re trying to do is create some elbow room for the schedule and what do we do, 'Let’s make all the Masters 1000’s two weeks.' Oh that’ll help the calendar. Actions speak louder than words. There are no s**ts given about the length of schedule,"
Tsitsipas, who often voices his opinions on social media, saw Roddick's comments and immediately chimed in on X (formerly Twitter), expressing his own opinion.
According to the Greek player, the two-week ATP Masters 1000 tournaments are too long, and players don't get to rest in between the tournaments, as those windows are now much smaller.
"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."
"It’s ironic that the ATP committed to this format without knowing if it could actually improve the schedule, but the quality likewise."
Tsitsipas also used an example, saying the Paris Masters, which was still a one-week event, was more exciting for the fans, as it was held only in one week.
"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’t broken."