The ATP desperately need to add a new tournament to its schedule which is badly lacking right now

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The ATP Tour continues its very busy schedule this week, moving on to events in Dallas, Rotterdam and Buenos Aires.

They arrive shortly before the famed Sunshine Swing, which brings about the first two ATP Masters 1000 tournaments of 2026.

Indian Wells begins at the start of March, and is immediately followed by the Miami Open, well and truly kicking off the Masters 1000 season.

There are a total of nine ATP Masters 1000 tournaments in the schedule, but intriguingly none are played on grass.

The ATP should add a grass-court Masters 1000 event to its schedule

Introducing a grass-court Masters event would be a fantastic move from the ATP Tour, which should be welcomed by tennis fans.

Given the long-standing success and love of Wimbledon, the only grass-court Grand Slam, it is seemingly a no-brainer to follow suit at Masters 1000 level.

The current ATP calendar features seven tournaments on grass, all of which take place in June, with Wimbledon starting then and finishing in July.

The Grand Slam follows ATP 500 tournaments in Halle and Queen’s, while there are ATP 250 events in Stuttgart, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Mallorca and Eastbourne.

Of course, upgrading any to a Masters competition would be challenging, with the schedule already busy enough as it is.

There would also likely be infrastructure issues, with only a finite number of venues able to play host to grass-court tennis.

And while the rapid wear and tear of the surface provides another potential stumbling block, it is an introduction that should still be considered to keep on track with the other surfaces.

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Where could a grass-court Masters 1000 take place?

Leading the way in that regard are hard courts, with five outdoor hard events and one indoor hard event representing six of the nine ATP Masters 1000 tournaments.

The other three competitions are played on outdoor clay, which is clearly working against the players who prefer grass.

While top players such as Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have proven their ability on every surface, there will be many others who would welcome a new and improved grass-court tournament.

It could also motivate those not so skilled on the surface to improve, which would subsequently boost their chances of Wimbledon glory.

The grass-court Grand Slam is a massive hit, and its success should at least start a debate around a new tournament on the same surface, even with the clear challenges.

Given the infrastructure and market already in place, the UK and Germany represent potential candidates to play host, but it does unfortunately seem a long way off right now.