Even as the tennis season transitions from the grass courts to the hard courts, one major problem persists. Well, no prizes for guessing, as the top players have been quite vocal about this issue. It is the hectic tennis scheduling that is taking a toll on the players’ physical and mental health. Take the recent example where the top players had to pull out of the National Bank Open due to the Masters tournaments being spread across two weeks. As a result, players like Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Aryna Sabalenka, and others preferred to rest. Amid this, Alexander Zverev, the 2020 US Open finalist, voiced his opinion about this issue. Earlier, American star Taylor Fritz had called out the ATP’s rule about the players being compelled to play at least 4 ATP 500 tournaments. While this results in back-to-back tournaments for the players, they aren’t able to perform efficiently, something which Zverev also pointed out during his conversation on the Nothing Major Podcast.

After being asked whether he’d like to play 15-18 in a year to peak at the Slams, Zverev said, “The thing is I would love to. But with how the ATP has done the tournaments nowadays, it’s impossible to. How are you gonna do that? You have the 9 Masters 1000 events, which are mandatory. Most of them are two-week-long events nowadays, except Monte Carlo and Paris Bercy, which I think are the best two weeks nowadays because you’ve kind of in and out.”

Further, he added, “I think for a fan and for every tennis player, like, Paris Bercy was awesome last year. I won it, which was even more awesome for me (laughs). You kind of get there, you play your 5 matches, and you get out of there. You don’t have to stick around. You don’t have to practice in between matches. You don’t have to do all those things. That’s how Masters events used to be. I think all the players loved it. Now the ATP has made 4 mandatory 500 events for you to play, which used to be 3, now it’s 4. You kind of don’t really get under 20 events except if you are pulling out of those big events. I’m not a fan of where this is going.”

Meanwhile, Fritz was among the players who bore the brunt of the hectic tennis schedule. He, too, voiced his concerns about this, as he had to play back-to-back tournaments.

Taylor Fritz’s harsh take on ATP’s new rule

Last month, the American star reached the semifinals of the Wimbledon Championships before losing against Carlos Alcaraz in a tough four-set match. However, Taylor Fritz had little time to rest, as he had to take part in the Citi Open due to the ATP’s new rule calling for the players to take part in at least 4 ATP 500 events. Thus, Fritz wasn’t happy with it and called out the ATP with some strong comments.

Taylor Fritz said, “There’s a new rule: you have to play a certain amount of 500 events or you get a zero on your record. And because I was injured early this year, I missed two 500s. So, I actually had to play DC in order to give myself a chance to meet my like 500 quota for the year. So, I’m going to be honest. I don’t think that’s the best rule because I was injured early this year.”

Both Zverev and Fritz are playing in the ongoing National Bank Open, where stars like Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, and Novak Djokovic are absent. Do you think that such a hectic schedule is ideal for tennis going forward? Let us know your views in the comments below.