“ATP, you got to fix the schedule. You have to. It can’t be 11 months,” Andy Roddick had warned back in March. The 2003 US Open winner was clear: the season runs too long. He urged the ATP to trim the indoor hard-court stretch that drags from September to November. His frustration wasn’t just about player fatigue. It was about accountability. He wanted the men’s tour to own up and do better. Now, even with the ATP Finals over and the season technically wrapped, Roddick still has a bone to pick about what comes next.

Speaking on the Served podcast with Jon Wertheim, the former world No. 1 sounded fed up as he spke about the topic on the tour again. “I know I’m beating a dead horse here with the schedule and everything else,” he said, “There are 14 Challenger events played in December that will count towards the 2026 race.” Hitting out at those late-December Challengers that don’t give a single point toward 2025. Extending the tour without adding on the actual season the players have been competing at without a break for them. Why?

Well, according to the ATP rulebook, the rankings cutoff falls on the Monday after the Nitto ATP Finals. Anything played after that goes straight into the next year’s race. The official reason? “To give players a mental and physical breather from the never-ending scramble for points.” Ironic, isn’t it? December still packs Challenger 50s, 75s, 100s, and 175s, all feeding next season’s standings.

That’s exactly what Andy Roddick couldn’t get behind. He called them out, saying, “If we’re fine, generally, with Challengers being in a wraparound season, why are we not okay with 250s contributing to the race in 2026? Why are we in the position where Athens can’t be played the week after the World Tour Finals and count towards 2026, so we’re not extending the season?” A fair jab. If the logic works for Challengers, why draw the line there? Why not let a few ATP 250s follow the same model?

Roddick backed that idea with his trademark pragmatism. “After the year, you might actually have the attention of the tennis world because it’s the only show in town.” He has a point. Fans are still paying attention. Players are still around. The tennis spotlight isn’t competing with much else. The call for common-sense scheduling has echoed for years, and not just from Roddick. Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek have said much the same. Swiatek called the calendar “crazy.” Alcaraz warned it would “kill us.”

As for Roddick’s fix, he didn’t hesitate. “Let’s take some of that newfound money; let’s buy back some tournaments; let’s do the right thing. Let’s move the schedule up. Let’s shut up all the talking heads like me and all the players who have been complaining. Don’t force anyone to unionize or take drastic steps. Just fix the wraparound season, and that fixes a lot of the issues.”

But when it comes to those December Challenger events, one question still hangs in the air. How do the players actually feel about this setup?

The players share different perspectives compared to Andy Roddick’s

Following the annocnement of the change, Italian veteran Lorenzo Giustino, fresh from his Monastir Open triumph, is fully behind the new Challenger Tour schedule. “I think it’s a good decision,” Giustino said last week, shared via the Tennis Channel. “In my opinion, there shouldn’t be any tournaments after the ATP Finals. What’s the point of events in November or December? The goal should be to reach the Finals, and if you’re not there, then it’s time to watch, rest, and prepare for the next season. We travel all year long. Every sport has its breaks, but in tennis, we play nonstop.” But waht could make him say that?

Well, at 34, he’s been around long enough to earn that perspective. The Italian has competed eight times at the Australian Open and now sits at world No. 229, right within the usual qualifying range for Melbourne. In recent years, players ranked near No. 230 have squeezed into the “Happy Slam” qualifying draw.

For Spaniard Alejandro Moro Canas, who fell to Giustino in the Monastir semifinals, the picture is a bit tougher. He’s ranked No. 238, just shy of the expected cutoff. Determined to make one final push, he chose to stay another week in Tunisia, entering an ITF World Tennis Tour M25 on a wild card to chase those last few ranking points.

Well, seems like while Andy Roddick, who spent 13 seasons from his rookie year in 2000 until his retirement in 2012 on the tennis court and knows the struggle of competing back-to-back, some players would want a break, while others, as Giustino is trying to say, would rather start their prep for the next season early. What do you think? Could this change help the lower-ranked players, or is it more like what Roddick says?