The biggest players on the ATP Tour continue to complain about the hectic nature of the tennis schedule.
Jack Draper called for a major change to the schedule, while Holger Rune branded the ATP Tour ‘unnecessary’ following his Achilles injury at the end of 2025.
One aspect of the Tour players are particularly unhappy about is the introduction of two-week Masters events at some of the biggest tournaments on the calendar.
Arthur Fils has become the latest top player on the ATP Tour to criticise the introduction of longer tournaments.
Arthur Fils slams two-week Masters events
Fils is currently at the Madrid Open, which is one of the tournaments which has expanded to 12 days instead of seven.
Following his victory against Ignacio Buse, Fils questioned the reasons behind the controversial expansion.
Is Arthur Fils the next best player after Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner?
“I always prefer week-long tournaments. Two weeks is too long. Twelve days is almost like a Grand Slam,” he said at the Spanish tournament.
“And then, in the middle of this tournament, you have Challenger 175s, where you can win 200 points. I think that’s not good for the players.
“Maybe it’s good for the tournaments, for ticket sales. They probably make more profit, but for us players, it’s not good.
“Everyone loves Masters 1000 events like in Monaco or Paris at the end of the year. We just play one week and then go somewhere else the following week.”
Fils is yet to win a Masters event or even reach the final. His best-ever performance at a Masters event came this year at the Miami Open, when he reached the semi-finals.
What Carlos Alcaraz has said about two-week Masters events
The Frenchman’s complaints have almost been exactly mirrored by Alcaraz’s stance on the expanded Masters format.
The world number two has long been vocal about his displeasure about the new format for Masters events.
How worried are you about Carlos Alcaraz’s injury?
Carlos Alcaraz will miss Rome and Roland Garros…
“The one-week ones are better. Some will think that in two weeks, there are days of rest, but that is not the case,” he said.
“You train, you have to mentally prepare for the game, prepare for it. You’re not resting, really. It’s two full weeks. That’s why I prefer the one-week Masters 1000. For me, it’s better for tennis.”
Only the Paris Masters and the Monte-Carlo Masters have remained one week events on the ATP Tour calendar.
Ironically, neither of them were won by Alcaraz this year as they were both claimed by his rival Jannik Sinner.
