Taylor Fritz told the tennis world exactly how he felt about the ATP tennis schedule debate.
Arguably the biggest talking point on the circuit is the congested schedule which several players have voiced their concerns about.
One of the most vocal critics is Carlos Alcaraz, who said the hectic schedule is ‘killing’ the players.
There has been very little for rest since the European clay court season began in spring, and 2024 being an Olympic year exacerbated matters.
But now another of the ATP Tour’s top players in Taylor Fritz took to social media to share his thoughts on the matter.
What did Taylor Fritz say about the ATP’s tennis schedule?
There was a turnaround of just three days between the Laver Cup and the Tokyo Open, where Fritz suffered an opening round defeat.
Furthermore, the Davis Cup began just two days after the conclusion of the US Open and ended less than a week before the Laver Cup. This came after a packed summer with the Paris Olympic Games taking place shortly after the Wimbledon Championships.
Fritz replied to a message on X from retired tennis player John Millman, who believes it is difficult to have a shorter tennis schedule when some players play lucrative exhibition matches when not on the tour.
The American hit back: “I agree that it’s tough for the tour to shorten the schedule when players will just play Exos to fill the time, and I’ve seen a lot of people criticising some of the players asking for a shorter season because they go and play Exos.
“I don’t understand that part of the argument, because playing an exo vs a tour event aren’t comparable to each other in terms of burn out — physically and especially mentally. A tour event can be 5+ days of playing all out and mentally being dialed in on all things on and off court, VS an exo you show up, have some fun and entertain for a match or two.
“You don’t have to all out push your body and there is absolutely 0 mental fatigue or stress. In a lot of ways an exhibition is a lot like a rest week and shouldn’t be compared 1:1 with a tour event.”
Taylor Fritz starts his Asian swing in the worst possible way
It has been tough for Fritz since he lost the US Open final to World number one Jannik Sinner.
Though he won two of his three Laver Cup matches, he lost the deciding match to Alcaraz as Team Europe regained the trophy.
He then entered the Tokyo Open as the top seed and faced a tricky opening encounter against Arthur Fils.
The American came out on the losing end of this three-set match as Fils made it through to the next round. The Frenchman is now into the quarter-finals after Matteo Berrettini retired from their encounter. He will face Fritz’s compatriot Ben Shelton in the last eight.
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