Frances Tiafoe criticised the decision to extend the length of Masters 1000 tournaments.
The 26-year-old just achieved his best result at that level by reaching the final of the Cincinnati Open.
The American fed off the energy and support of the home crowd to achieve his best tournament run during what has been a challenging season.
But Tiafoe came up short in his quest to claim the Cincinnati Open title after he suffered his fourth defeat in five meetings to Jannik Sinner.
What has Frances Tiafoe said about the new Masters 1000 schedule?
The ATP has extended the length of the vast majority of the Masters 1000 tournaments on the circuit.
These events tended to last one week, but now they last longer, it means players will spend more time at these tournaments, especially those who go on a deep run. This has frustrated Frances Tiafoe, who did not hold back on what he thinks of the ATP’s move.
“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 after the Cincinnati Open final.
“Prize money hasn’t risen, so I mean you’re having teams, a lot of wasted days. I don’t care if it’s in the states, in Cincinnati, five days off I will go to Kings Island or something and mess around but if I lose I will go to Florida or DC or back home.
“But when I’m in Europe playing Madrid or Rome and they are 10 or 12 days, it’s like what am I sitting here doing? Just wasting time.
“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!”
Who did Frances Tiafoe beat to reach the Cincinnati Open final?
Tiafoe began his Cincinnati Open campaign with a 6-3, 7-6(6) win over Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Tiafoe defeated Olympic bronze medalist Lorenzo Musetti in the following round for the loss of just five games, and this put everyone else on notice.
Tiafoe came through a tight 6-4, 6-7(10), 7-6(5) victory over Jiri Lehecka, before playing just one set against Hubert Hurkacz before the Polish player retired from the match due to injury.
One of Tiafoe’s biggest wins came in the semi-finals against Holger Rune, who has also had a difficult season.
The American came from a set down to defeat the 22-year-old 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4) and advance to the final, where Sinner proved to be too strong for him.
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