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British Tennis Legend, Andy Murray Lashes Out at the Revamped ‘Two Weeks Long’ Format of the Madrid Open

Published 04/28/2023, 6:34 AM EDT

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For the first time in the history of the Madrid Open, the organizers made a controversial decision to extend the scheduling of the ATP and WTA 1000 events. The format of the tournament which used to be a one-week stint, will now be held in two weeks to make it a 12-day event in the beautiful city of Spain. However, there are some prominent names in the tennis community who have not been impressed with the decision to stretch the schedule to two weeks.

The British tennis legend, Andy Murray falls into this category as he recently vented out his frustrations at the tournament after facing an early round defeat.

Andy Murray is not impressed with the revamped format of the Madrid Open

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The organizers of the ATP and WTA 1000 events in Madrid previously came up with the idea of a two-week format to get a considerable period to showcase the beautiful city to the fans. However, the former world No. 1 has not been a fan of the same as he recently voiced his displeasure regarding the scheduling of the tournament. This came after his disappointing defeat in the first round of the Madrid Open.

via Reuters

After getting outperformed by Andrea Vavassori in straight sets, Andy Murray appeared in the post-match press conference. The British tennis player was asked about his opinion on the drastic change in the tournament, now being two weeks long. The 35-year-old tennis legend answered by saying that he is not a huge fan of the revamped format.

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While revealing the reason behind his disapproval of the format, Murray said, “Quite a long, quite a big change for players. Just, yeah, maybe a little bit less down time.”

He also stated, “I don’t think that this necessarily shortens it for the players. It’s just a little bit more time at tournaments, a little bit more time on the road. “

Murray was also exasperated with the format of another prominent event

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The 35-year-old player has always remained vocal about his stance regarding the formats and structure of various tennis events. Even during the first Grand Slam tournament of the season, Murray didn’t hold himself back from venting out his frustrations at the late-night schedules of the matches.

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During the Australian Open, the British tennis legend’s thrilling clash against Thanasi Kokkinakis got stretched till 4 AM. Even though it was an absolute treat for the spectators, Murray saw it as a health concern for the players, fans, and staff who were there till morning. Later, he also expressed his annoyance during the post-match press conference in Melbourne Park.

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What do you think of the British tennis legend’s opinion on the format of the Madrid Open? Let us know in the comments section.

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Written by:

Anurag Gusain

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Anurag Gusain is a tennis writer at EssentiallySports. Being a huge tennis fan, he enjoys watching the Spanish legend Rafael Nadal dominate other superstars on the ATP Tour. His coverage of Nadal's 14 French Open titles has been hailed as some of the best in the business, showcasing his talent for storytelling and his ability to capture the essence of the sport.
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Edited by:

Tony Thomas