One of Andy Murray’s former coaches has made it abundantly clear what should happen if week-long Masters 1000 events are to return to the ATP Tour.
In 2024 the nine tournaments that award 1000 ranking points to the winner were extended from one week to two weeks.
This means the events now start earlier than before and players now have more time between each round.
But this has been criticised by some players, including Stefanos Tsitsipas who made his feelings known on social media platform X.
What did an ex coach of Andy Murray say about the Masters 1000 schedule?
Tsitsipas strongly disagrees with the extended Masters 1000 events and claimed the quality of the matches has dropped since the change and there is now a lack of rest of practice time for the players.
After the Greek player voiced his views on X, in which he also accused the ATP Tour of not knowing if the change would improve the schedule, Murray’s former coach and commentator Mark Petchey issued a response.
The Brit does not agree with the World number 12’s views and was very frank in what he thinks should happen for Masters 1000 tournaments to return to a one-week format.
“I don’t disagree with Stefanos opinion but then the players need to take a pay cut as the revenue from TV revenue and tickets will drop, as will the contributions into their pensions,” he tweeted.
“But it is disingenuous to say no one knew. They all know, they all took the increase in revenue and now there is pushback.
“As long as the above first paragraph is acceptable to players, then one week Masters should return.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Frances Tiafoe criticise two-week Masters 1000 events
Tsitsipas took to X to express in no uncertain terms what he dislikes about the extended Masters 1000 events.
“The two-week Masters 1000s have turned into a drag,” he said. “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 @atptour committed to this format without knowing if it could actually improve the schedule, but the quality likewise. 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.”
After Frances Tiafoe lost the Cincinnati Open final to Jannik Sinner in August, he also criticised the schedule change.
“I think the 10-12 days or whatever it is is a disgrace. I think to have every single Masters like that except Monte Carlo, I don’t like it at all,” he told reporters.
“Prize money hasn’t risen, so I mean you’re having teams, a lot of wasted days. “Unless the prize money rises, I think it’s a joke. It just helps the tournament.
“The tournament gets two weekends but from a player’s standpoint, it doesn’t help us at all. But that’s a whole other conversation, we love the ATP!”
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