Feliciano Lopez, the Madrid Open tournament director, isn’t afraid to make his feelings heard.
So with players complaining about the two-week Masters 1000 events, perhaps it’s no surprise that Lopez was quick to respond.
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The 44-year-old believes the complaints are ‘weird’ and wants players to look at the bigger picture.
Feliciano Lopez says it’s interesting players don’t like two-week Masters events when they voted for them
Appearing as a guest on ‘The Big T Podcast‘, Lopez responded to recent player complaints.
“For me, I think it’s interesting to see that not all of them, they don’t like something that they voted for,” he said.
“For me, that’s a little bit weird.
“They wanted to have longer events because they will have a chance to make more money, and [have] more days in between matches, which is also better.
“I remember the old days when Rafa [Nadal] was playing the clay season, and he was winning back-to-back every single week.
“I think for them, if you see the big picture, it’s a better opportunity.
“They will make more money, they will have more time to rest in between matches.”
The Spaniard did, however, understand one reason why players are unhappy with the longer Masters 1000 events.
“The issue that I see is that they will spend more time away,” said Lopez.
“I can understand that playing two tournaments in one month, that can be an issue, because they will spend a lot of time away, but if you see the whole picture, I think it’s better for the players.
“This is where I see it now. I think it’s better generally.”
The Madrid Open is one of seven two-week Masters 1000 events.
Masters 1000 tournaments
| Tournament | Surface | Draw | Champion |
| Indian Wells | Hard | 96 (2 weeks) | Jannik Sinner – 2026 |
| Miami Open | Hard | 96 (2 weeks) | Jannik Sinner – 2026 |
| Monte Carlo Masters | Clay | 56 (1 week) | Jannik Sinner – 2026 |
| Madrid Open | Clay | 96 (2 weeks) | Casper Ruud – 2025 |
| Italian Open | Clay | 96 (2 weeks) | Carlos Alcaraz – 2025 |
| Canadian Open | Hard | 96 (2 weeks) | Ben Shelton – 2025 |
| Cincinnati Open | Hard | 96 (2 weeks) | Carlos Alcaraz – 2025 |
| Shanghai Masters | Hard | 96 (2 weeks) | Valentin Vacherot – 2025 |
| Paris Masters | Indoor hard | 56 (1 week) | Jannik Sinner – 2025 |
Many players and pundits prefer the one-week Masters 1000 events.
Why do players and pundits prefer one-week Masters 1000 events?
Ahead of this year’s Barcelona Open, Carlos Alcaraz explained why he prefers one-week events, as reported by ‘Punto de Break‘.
“I’ve always been a proponent of one-week tournaments,” said Alcaraz.
“In this case, if Madrid, for example, were a one-week tournament, I’d have next week off: that would also help. And if Rome were a one-week tournament, I’d still have the week after Madrid free.
“Ultimately, I’ll always defend one-week tournaments. I think you see the best tennis there, there’s more excitement: we saw that in Monte Carlo, where we had incredible matches on the first day.”
Alcaraz isn’t the only top player who prefers the one-week events.
Last year, Alexander Zverev delivered his verdict on the two-week Masters 1000 events during an appearance on the ‘Nothing Major‘ podcast.
“To be honest, I’ve not heard a single player say that they love the two-week Masters events,” he said.
“I don’t even think fans like that. They don’t like waiting for two days for their favourite player to play again.”
Former world number one Andy Roddick is another harsh critic of two-week Masters 1000 tournaments.
During an episode of ‘Served with Andy Roddick‘ in 2025, Roddick shared his thoughts on the change to the Masters 1000 events.
“They bluff it like, ‘This is good for you, we’re doing this because it’s good for you!’, shut up!” said Roddick.
You’d be hard pushed to find many players backing the two-week events, but it certainly doesn’t sound like Lopez is prepared to back down.
So, at least for now, we’re stuck with the two-week Masters 1000 events.
