Taylor Fritz is among the ATP players eager for change, but whether or not his wish will be granted remains to be seen.
Fritz agreed with Jack Draper over the tennis schedule, about which he said: “Facts, also seeing more injuries and burnout now than ever before because balls, courts, conditions have slowed down a lot making the weekly grind even more physically demanding and tough on the body.”
The American is now playing his 70th ATP match of the 2025 season at the Swiss Indoors Basel, while Fritz also just took on the Six Kings Slam.
Draper meanwhile has already ended his ATP season, in which he suffered from injuries, although he will take on the UTS London Grand Final in December.
Sam Querrey tells the ATP Tour what they must change after Taylor Fritz’s complaints
The schedule has dominated much of the talk in 2025, with Carlos Alcaraz criticizing the calendar recently, while similarly WTA ace Iga Swiatek thinks players are playing too much.
Former professional Sam Querrey has now given his take on the situation, saying on the Nothing Major Show: “I don’t think that the season needs to be shortened.
“I think they need to get rid of these mandatory events. Like what Taylor was talking about, you have to play this tournament to hit the amount of 500s.
“If they just had all the tournaments and said guys play whatever you want I would be curious to see how many events the guys would play.
“You can’t just shorten the season and go to every tournament post US Open – Shanghai, Beijing, Basel, Vienna – and go your tournament does not exist any more, we have decided to shorten the season. That is not the real world. You can’t do that.
“But the Tour needs to get rid of or switch up the ‘if you guys don’t play four 500s your ranking will be slashed’ or if for every Masters series you miss, your bonus at the end of the year is slashed.
“I understand having some mandatory events, that’s fine, especially if the players are going to be compensated so well but you can’t just shorten the tour. You just can’t do that. Give the guys more options.”
The ATP Tour clearly needs to take action after Taylor Fritz criticism
There are four mandatory ATP 500 tournaments in the schedule, which also includes nine Masters 1000 events.
Incidentally, players aren’t happy with the two-week Masters 1000 events, of which there are now seven from a total of nine.
READ MORE: Yet another WTA player confirms she is ending her season early due to ‘mental exhaustion’
Such criticism really isn’t a good look for the ATP Tour, who should be desperate to have their star names playing as often as possible.
Moreover, they will want the big names fit and fighting for the title, rather than constantly retiring hurt mid-tournament.
The season continues this week in Vienna and Basel, with the Paris Masters leading into ATP 250 events in Athens and Metz.
It then concludes with the ATP Finals in Turin, although many star names will continue at the Davis Cup Finals the following week.
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