The 2024 ATP and WTA seasons have now come to a close, with players already looking ahead to 2025.
Carlos Alcaraz is now back in training ahead of the Australian Open, with fans surprised at how quickly Coco Gauff returned after her WTA Finals win.
The talented duo will certainly be among the players to watch in 2025, having both really impressed last time out.
Alcaraz did, however, extend his season to take part in exhibition events, with the Spaniard having played in the USA earlier this week.
He played against Ben Shelton at The Garden Cup in New York, with Alcaraz then meeting another American in Frances Tiafoe at the Charlotte Invitational.
Rennae Stubbs urges ATP and WTA to introduce new tournament after US Open
WTA stars Jessica Pegula and Emma Navarro met at the former event, with Madison Keys and Sloane Stephens taking on each other in the latter.
The exhibition events come after another busy season, during which many players criticised the schedule, with Rennae Stubbs now sharing her thoughts on the situation.
“It goes back to the conversation we have been having through me thinking that after the US Open tennis needs to stop,” she said on The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast. “The calendar, tournaments need to stop as far as WTA and ATP.
“I think you need to have 125s and 250s for players outside of the top 50 but everybody else would need to have some teams events and exos and fun and make sure these players are making a ton of money but they are not having the stress of winning a tournament or playing against people from the US Open on.
“I think we have the United Cup, the Hopman Cup, we have Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup. You make everything a team event and make everything fun for these players and take maybe one player from the top 10 and one player from the top 20, one player from the top 30, 40 and 50 and you make a team of that.
“It’s kind of like an NBA/WNBA free agency. You get to choose somebody in the top 10 or the top five. A bit like world team tennis and you make a team out of it. You can exchange them in and out, singles and doubles and mixed doubles. You actually have teams.
“Think about it, China is having a lot of money into tennis at the end of the year, so you have a true World Cup. One person from each top 10, top 20 and 30 have to be picked in the team, so everyone in the top 50 is taken care of.
“Everyone is playing and if you are ranked one you get x amount of money. Everything after the US Open [comes off the schedule]. So all that Asian swing. Everyone is like Asia wants to put money into tennis. Yeah, they can. You have a World Cup. Then you have a mixed event.”
Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek criticised 2024 schedules
The likes of the Brisbane International and Adelaide International will soon be used as preparation for the Australian Open, with a long list of star names involved in both events.
But the immediate return to action may not please everyone, with Iga Swiatek criticising the WTA schedule in August.
Not long after, Alcaraz doubled down on his ATP schedule criticism, although he did then go on to play in two exhibition events after the season ended.
The 2025 season doesn’t look like it will be much different for the star names in terms of scheduling, with many players set to perhaps skip a handful of events.
That was certainly the case in the most recent season, with injuries and fatigue largely behind those decisions.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
