The 2025 season is rapidly reaching its conclusion, with focus already turning to what 2026 has in store.
And along with plenty more drama and excitement on court, there is likely to be heavy discussion about the schedule once more.
WTA star Iga Swiatek criticized the schedule earlier this season, with ATP ace Carlos Alcaraz among the calendar critics too.
But Qinwen Zheng doesn’t think the calendar needs changing, while the ATP has seemingly made its thoughts clear on the schedule with a new event from 2028.
Andy Murray once called for an ATP Masters 1000 event in South America
An ATP Masters 1000 event in Saudi Arabia is in the works, although it won’t be considered a mandatory event.
Intriguingly, tennis icon Andy Murray made calls for an event of the same stature in 2024, but this time in South America.
Murray wrote on X: “Unpopular opinion. South America should have its own dedicated swing on the tennis tour with its own masters series.
“The way the fans support the tournaments there is incredible. Amazing atmospheres and [tennis] is clearly part of their sporting culture. Vamos ATP Tour!”
Would you consider Andy Murray a top 10 player of all time?
Roger Federer said a South American ATP Masters 1000 ‘needs to make sense’
The idea of such a tournament was an issue that Murray’s fellow legend Roger Federer incidentally discussed all the way back in 2013.
Heading into the Australian Open, the Swiss star was asked if he’d recommend the staging of a Masters 1000 in South America.
He replied: “It needs to make sense. Don’t forget, if you add one, you almost have to take another one away. Who deserves to have one taken away from them?
“It needs to be thought through thoroughly or you just add one. Then again, maybe other places also deserve one. I don’t think it’s right now on the agenda.
“I think South America are happy the way things are right now, they would like some minor improvements. That’s all they care about.
“They just got Bogota, as well, which I think is a good thing. But we’ll discuss more about those kinds of things in the future, I’m sure. It’s going to be interesting.”
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In 2026, there will be a total of nine ATP Masters 1000 events, with seven featuring the enhanced 12-day format.
On top of that, the hugely busy calendar also involves 16 ATP 500 tournaments and 29 ATP 250 tournaments.
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