Top tennis players say they're playing too much because the tournaments are too long

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Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

Poland's Iga Swiatek celebrates with fans after winning a match against Germany's Angelique Kerber at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Monday, May 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

ROME ā€“ More competition days, more tickets sold, more TV time, more money.

For tennis organizers, the long-sought upgrade of tournaments in Madrid and Rome ā€” expanding them from eight days to nearly two weeks ā€” has been a bonanza.

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For the players? Well, they havenā€™t been nearly as enthusiastic.

With Madrid and Rome following already established two-week events in Indian Wells and Miami, several of the highest-ranked players ā€” the ones who consistently reach the final stages of these tournaments ā€” are growing weary of spending so much more time on the road.

ā€œYou got to be some type of superhero to be consistent back-to-back 10 days in each event getting to the very end of it,ā€ recent Monte Carlo champion Stefanos Tsitsipas said in Rome.

What bothers the top players is that these Masters-level tournaments are being modeled after Grand Slams but theyā€™re still not as prestigious as the Grand Slams: the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

In essence, the tournaments in Madrid and Rome are merely warmups for Roland Garros.

ā€œWe wanted more drama and then we stretched the drama a bit too much, where it kind of becomes like the ā€˜telenovaā€™ that was too many seasons,ā€ said Victoria Azarenka, who was formerly ranked No. 1. ā€œHopefully we make some adjustments, because itā€™s too long."

Next year, the Cincinnati Open ā€” a warmup for the U.S. Open ā€” will also be expanded to the two-week format, which increases the draws from 64 to 96 players.

ā€œPeople want to watch top players play against each other, week in and week out. ā€¦ There is a market for that, but there has to be a thought to make sure we do take care of our players,ā€ Azarenka said.

The top 32 seeds in the expanded events get byes to the second round, and all players get days off between matches ā€” which is a change from the old format.

ā€œThe two-week Masters 1000 events is great for players that are ranked between 50 and 100 in the world because they get a chance to play a main-draw event at a Masters 1000 event. Itā€™s not great for top-10 players,ā€ fifth-ranked Alexander Zverev said.

ā€œYes, you do get told you have a day in between, you donā€™t have to play every day. At the end of the day thatā€™s not resting. Resting is when youā€™re spending time at home, when youā€™re sleeping in your own bed, maybe with your family, maybe with your dogs, maybe with your kids if you have kids, right? ... A day between matches, if youā€™re at a different place, thatā€™s not resting. If youā€™re trying to make semifinals or finals of every event, youā€™re just away a lot longer, and you have to work a lot more.ā€

The schedule has been a hot topic lately because of injuries to the men's tourā€™s two top young players, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, even if their injuries might not be a direct result of the longer tournaments.

Sinner (injured hip) and Alcaraz (right forearm) both withdrew from Rome.

But injuries to top players are nothing new.

ā€œI like this two-week format,ā€ fourth-ranked Daniil Medvedev said. ā€œI like when there is a day off. ā€¦ I donā€™t think injuries would come from this format.ā€

Added 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal, ā€œAt the end the players want to make money. The tournaments want to make money. Then itā€™s all (a) cycle that comes together. We accept that role.ā€

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis


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