Novak Djokovic and Taylor Fritz have been called out for previous comments made about the tennis calendar.
Djokovic has made complaints about the tennis calendar this year, but he is far from the only player to do so.
One of the biggest issues players have relates to the two-week Masters 1000 tournaments, which Fritz has been particularly outspoken against.
The ATP Chairman has recently responded to player complaints, and now a Grand Slam winning coach has given his say on the situation.
Grand Slam winning coach responds to Novak Djokovic’s organisation
Djokovic co-founded the PTPA (Professional Tennis Players Association), who claim they represent players in their complaints, in 2019 and continually call out issues they have in the sport.
One of the biggest issues from the past year has been the tennis calendar, and the PTPA have actually launched a lawsuit against the ATP Tour which relates to this.
In their most recent post on X (formerly known as Twitter), the PTPA brought up previous comments made by Fritz complaining about the lack of off-season players get.
Fritz told ESPN earlier this year, “There’s no offseason, and if you’re a top player, you actually get even less of an offseason…If the season were to end in Paris…you get a month and a half before the season starts…but if you’re playing the Tour Finals and the Davis Cup…you’re actually adding three more weeks onto it…I get one week off the whole year. It’s absurd.”
When relaying these comments, the PTPA called the tennis calendar ‘broken’, “Players have been saying it for years: the calendar is broken. @taylor_fritz knows that endless travel and nonstop tournaments aren’t signs of a thriving sport — they’re signs of burnout.
“That’s why our lawsuit will demand real reform to protect players’ health and build a schedule that actually makes sense.”
While many players on both the ATP and WTA Tours are not happy with the current tennis calendar, the coach of two-time Grand Slam doubles champion Henry Patten disagrees with these complaints.
Calvin Betton replied to the PTPA by saying, “For players playing Davis Cup this week there is six weeks before the next optional tournament. Eight weeks for players not playing DC or Tour Finals. Stop pretending there’s no off season. There clearly is.”
While Fritz has suggested that the tennis calendar is harsher on top players competing in the latter events, with USA already being out of the Davis Cup he now has an extra week in the offseason this year.
Taylor Fritz criticised by tennis fans for being hypocritical
While there may be genuine reasons for concern among tennis players, tennis fans have pointed out an issue with the PTPA bringing these comments back to the surface.
Fritz has complained about the lack of off-season for tennis players, but he has actually signed up for an upcoming exhibition event in Charlotte, North Carolina.
This event will feature Fritz playing a match against Frances Tiafoe, while Madison Keys will take on Venus Williams.
Tennis fans have called out Fritz for doing this, with one person on X (formerly known as Twitter), claiming the American number one was being hypocritical.
They wrote, “No one forces them to play. They are never tired for exhibitions. A bunch of rich hypocrites.”
Another person echoed a similar opinion, “‘There’s no off-season’ but he decides to play extremely well-paid exhibitions.”
The Charlotte Invitational is not the only exhibition Fritz has played this year, as he has also competed in the Six Kings Slam which offers players $1.5million just for participating.
This was also pointed out by another tennis fan, “He was happy to play that Six Kings event though wasn’t he. You can’t have it both ways.”
Fritz is not the only player who has been criticised in this way, with Carlos Alcaraz also being called hypocritical earlier this year.
After having seven weeks off-season, Fritz will begin his 2026 season at the United Cup, where USA are the defending champions.
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